


Harry Potter One Shots

by Aninvisiblekat



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: One Shot Collection, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:20:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 34,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23339794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aninvisiblekat/pseuds/Aninvisiblekat
Summary: A collection of Harry Potter reader insert one-shots/imagines including characters from the Marauders era, Golden era, and the next generation.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Reader, Fred Weasley/Reader, George Weasley/Reader, Hermione Granger/Reader, Neville Longbottom/Reader, Remus Lupin/Reader, Sirius Black/Reader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 187





	1. Percy Weasley || Hogsmeade Dates

I suppose that by the winter of third year I should’ve been used to the succession in which Hogsmeade weekends usually went. It would start a few days before, with me mentioning to Percy that there was a Hogsmeade trip. Then, he would tell me he’d go with me but that he wanted to get some homework done beforehand. The day of the trip, we’d spend most of the morning in the library or the common room, with me complaining and him ignoring me until he’d finally set down his quill around noon and finally, finally, pack up to go to Hogsmeade. It had become such a repeated pattern that I’d taken to making a checklist and checking off each event as it happened. The first year twins seemed to find it funny, but Percy never did. 

On that Saturday in early winter we were sitting in the common room. Percy was working on an essay, the parchment for which I’d noted had already exceeded it’s three foot requirement. I looked at the side of his face, sighing and checking off step three on my list. 

“Passive aggressively making a checklist counts as complaining.” Percy looked at me and fiddled with his glasses for a second. “Don’t you have homework to finish?” 

“I finished it,” I eyed his parchment again, “and judging by your amount of parchment, you did too.” 

“It’s not my fault. If I want to become a prefect by fifth year I need to show my ability to go above and beyond.” 

“Perce, I assure you, they do not care that much. If anything,” I checked the title of his essay, “I’m sure even Professor Sprout has better things to do with her time than read your essay.” 

“Why do you still bother?” The twins had snuck up behind us, popping up like evil redhead jack in the boxes. 

“I ask myself the same thing every day.” 

“You should come with us instead.” George smirked. 

Percy looked as though he was going to complain, but Fred cut in before he could. “Don’t worry, we’ll have your girlfriend back by the time you’re done.” 

“Which gives us… about three hours, wouldn’t you say Forge?” 

“He’s not my-” Before I could finish, Percy had sighed and stood up, yanking the parchment I’d been fiddling with out of my hands. He checked off the rest of the steps, shoved his books back into his bag and grabbed my arm, dragging me towards the portrait hole.

“I’m ready to go,” he said simply, glaring at the twins who were snickering behind him. 

“That’s no way to treat your girlfriend.” George called. 

“Sorry, future girlfriend,” Fred revised, after I gave the two of them a disapproving look. The twins winked conspiratorially at me, and I wondered if the stunt they’d pulled had been intentional, as a way to get Percy to leave earlier, or just to make him mad. Whatever the case, I made a mental note to get them some candy from Honeydukes for their help. 

~~~

“Perce, I’m cold.” I took the jar of fire from him. 

“You’re the one who wanted to come in the first place. Shouldn’t you be prepared?” He grabbed the fire back, but stood closer nonetheless. “Honestly I don’t get why you like coming here so much.” 

I shivered, hoping it went unnoticed, but it apparently had not as the Weasley boy promptly sighed, and wrapped his scarf around my neck. I felt a blush rise to my face, but attempted to hide it in his scarf. “Let’s go into Honeydukes,” I pointed to the storefront, grabbing Percy’s arm and dragging him towards the store before he could protest. “Don’t worry, we’ll go to the bookshop afterwards.” 

~~~

In mid January however, our routine was thrown off. We were sitting in the library, completing an essay for Snape, when Percy looked up. He sat for a few seconds, staring at me without saying anything, but then cleared his throat and spoke, albeit stiffly. “There’s a trip this weekend. To Hogsmeade. If,” I was offended that he looked like he was in pain. 

“Yes.” I turned back to my essay, not before seeing the redhead’s relieved expression. I thought I saw a slight blush on his face, but when I looked back I didn’t see anything. 

The day of the trip Percy joined me in the Great Hall for breakfast. I expected to see him doing homework, but he wasn’t. “If you’re ready we can leave right after breakfast.” 

“Ok.” In actuality, I did have some homework to finish, figuring that I would have had time to do so before the trip, but I wasn’t going to complain, seeing as he was voluntarily willing to go. I wondered briefly what had changed his mind, but decided not to ask, lest it offend him. 

When we finished breakfast we returned to the common room. I saw Fred and George raise an eyebrow when we split ways, Percy going to his dorm and me to mine. They looked between us, and decided to shoot up the stairs behind Percy. I continued up the stairs to the girl’s dorms. 

“You look happy,” My dormmate Macie noted. “You finally going on a date with that Weasley?” 

“It’s not a date Mace,” I explained everything while grabbing my coat and casting a quick cleaning spell over myself. 

“Sounds like a date.” I began to protest, but Macie spoke over me. “Assuming you’re right and this isn’t a date, admit it. You wouldn’t be too disappointed if it was.” I could feel my face warming, but I ignored it and the knowing look Macie was giving me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Percy’s scarf on my nightstand, and after a moment of thought, I shoved it into my bag. 

When I went back downstairs, Percy was sitting on a chair staring off into space. The twins were nowhere to be found. “You ready to go?” He nodded. “What did the twins want?”

“Nothing of importance.” 

“It never seems to be.” 

He scoffed at that, “I assume we’re starting at Honeydukes?” 

“Of course.” 

After leaving Honeydukes I took Percy’s scarf out of my bag, handing it to him. “I… thanks.” He stared at it blankly before slowly taking it and unfolding it, winding it around my neck. “Thanks.” I looked at the side of his face, as he fiddled with his glasses. We were quiet on the walk to the bookstore. 

~~~

We’d made it back to the Gryffindor Common Room in the early afternoon, and I had gotten around to the homework I previously neglected. 

“Hey Perce, I’m going to bed.” I paused for a second. “Hey, what changed?” 

“What?”

“I mean, we had a whole routine.” I took one of the lists out of my notebook, “why’d you change it?” 

He shrugged, taking the list from me and scanning it. I was almost to the stairs when he called my name. I turned around, watching as he stood from the couch we’d been sitting on. He walked over until he stood right before me. Before I could process, he’d leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. He turned around, heading back to the couch looking at the list. As I turned around I saw the twins. Fred was giving George money, and upon seeing I was looking they mimed clapping. I rolled my eyes, but smiled nonetheless.


	2. Remus Lupin || Occulmency

“You look awful Remus.” I sat next to my potions partner, who had his head rested on his arms. His eyes had large bags, he looked underfed, and his face was pale, accenting the scars that littered it. “Have you been sleeping?” He gave a noncommittal grunt, and I turned to get out my books. When I turned back around I noted he hadn’t moved at all to grab his own book or parchment, and I sighed, ruffling his hair. 

That day we were supposed to make Draught of the Living Death, an endeavor which ended subpar. My talents had never been in potions, nor really in any other magical fields. One of my only skills was Legilimency, which I had found a great affinity for towards the beginning of my third year. Remus, who usually directed me in potion making was too out of it to do much of anything. As we wrapped up the lesson a nosy part of me whispered that I could always check to see what was wrong with Remus, he wouldn’t even know I’d done it, but I shook that off; breaching people’s privacy wasn’t why I learned the skill. 

“I’m serious, you should try to get some more sleep.” 

“You’re not Sirius, he is.” Remus mumbled, waving in the general direction of his friend. I glanced bemused between him and his friends, before checking to ensure I had all of my things and leaving. With luck, I thought, Professor Slughorn would allow me to practice with him. 

~~~

Remus’s sickness wasn’t a one time thing. The next few months I noticed he had a pattern. He’d look terrible for a few days, then miss all of his classes for a day, and then come back, still looking fairly horrible for a day or two before going back to his usual self. Every month he had a different excuse, and I’d stopped asking. 

“Do you want some chocolate?” I knew he would. It was mid-January, and Remus had missed class the day before. 

He nodded, and cleared his throat as I handed him the piece. “Thank you.” I smiled at him before turning back to the front of the room, seeing Sirius, Peter, and James staring at me from other tables. 

~~~

The next month I was similarly prepared. I had bought Remus his own chocolate bar, hoping in his tired state he wouldn’t look too far into the gesture. I put it on his side of our shared table, and got out my own books, not really looking at what I was doing. 

When he came in he thanked me for the chocolate, glancing at the things in front of me as he sat down. I saw what I thought to be a flash of panic in his face, and looked down at what could have brought such a reaction. An advanced book on wandless Legilimency stared back at me, and I silently cursed myself for not looking as I got my things out. Not many people in school knew of my practice, an attempt on my part to prevent people from assuming I’d use it on them. I put away the book as quickly as possible, and turned to the board to try and look natural. I glanced at Remus out of my peripheral vision. He looked paler than usual. We were supposed to make a new potion, but the boy wouldn’t even look at me. He stayed quiet through the entirety of the lesson, only talking to ask me to hand him something. 

“Remus-” I didn’t exactly know where I was going with the sentence, but it seemingly didn’t matter as he turned around as quickly as he could. 

“I have to go.” He exited the room without looking back, leaving the rest of the Marauders confused and me staring at the place he’d been. 

The next day I noticed the Marauders looking at me from the other end of the table. Sirius and James looked to be talking under their breaths, while Remus was staring intensely at his plate. Peter looked the most outwardly concerned, and would dart his gaze from Sirius and James, to me, to Remus, and back again. I tried to ignore them, eating as quickly as possible and going back to the common room. This plan was ruined however, when I was joined by James. 

“I hear you have a particular interest in Legilimency.” He had absolutely no tact. I didn’t answer, so he continued on after a few steps. “Look, I need to know if you've ever used it on anyone in the school.” 

“I haven’t used it on Remus. Or any of you.” I knew that was what he was implying. 

“You’d best keep it that way.” I wondered if James had anything else to say now that he’d gotten the answer he talked to me for. I didn’t get an answer though, as soon enough Sirius came to fetch James for quidditch. 

“Potter,” I paused for a second, considering what to say. “I’m sure he knows, but there is a way to counter it. If there’s really something he doesn’t want anyone to find out… he may want to learn.” 

~~~

For another month, I heard nothing of the other Marauders. Remus had started talking to me again, although it was less than before, and I could tell he was hesitant at times. He had taken to staring at the ground too; I assumed it was to avoid my eyes. I was split between feeling hurt and wondering if there was something in particular he was afraid of people finding out. The hurt usually won.  
The next Marauder to speak to me was Peter, and it was on a Saturday, a month after my conversation with James. He sat with me at the library, and while I would have preferred for the rest of them to ignore me and Remus to just start acting normally, I figure Peter was better than the alternative: Sirius. At the very least the short brown haired boy studied quietly beside me for a while. 

“He’s in the hospital wing- er- if you’d like to go visit.” He paused, looking over at a bookshelf. 

“Why would I?” The words came out harsher than I meant them to. “He hasn’t looked at me in a month.” 

“He doesn’t mean to…” 

“We’ve been potions partners for a half a year. I thought we were friends by now, if not maybe at the very least friendly acquaintances.” Although Peter looked like he was about to speak, I was too on a roll to stop. “And if we were, he wouldn’t stop talking to me because I have the potential to- to I don’t even know. Even after I told James I wouldn’t.” I had gotten too loud for the library, as was evident by the glare Madam Pince gave me. I returned to my usual volume. “Either way, if he’s in the hospital wing today that means by Monday he’ll be back to normal.” 

Peter looked a bit awkward. He hadn’t expected me to explode as I did. “Just think about it.” 

I thanked him, already intent on the fact that I wouldn’t be going to see Remus. Nothing would change if I did, and if that was true, why bother? 

~~~

April was arriving, and the relationship I had with Remus had become colder than it was previously. I figured he was still afraid of me, and I was too angry to try and mend things or talk to him. The one thing I still had done was buy the boy a bar of chocolate. As I’d told myself, that was purely because I’d done so for months already. If I just abruptly stopped it would prove how mad I was. As had become tradition, the day after he was absent I dropped it on his side of the table. I didn’t look at him at all throughout the lesson, focusing instead on Professor Slughorn and the cauldron he had set up in the front of the room. When class was over I took my time packing, noticing that Remus had taken the chocolate bar before he left. That was a good thing, right? 

All throughout the next potion lesson I felt Remus looking at me. It was odd though, as he didn’t talk to me. I tried to ignore him, but it was hard to with the knowledge he was staring at me. 

“You ready to go?” Peter, James, and Sirius were waiting for Remus by the door. I blinked, having barely noticed that class was over. I started packing up as the four friends left, noticing once they were gone that there was a sugar quill sitting on Remus’s half of our shared table. A note was attached to the packaging, and it had my name, written in his neat script. I left, grabbing the quill and opening it on my way out the door. I stuck the quill in my mouth, sucking on it as I opened the note, but there was nothing inside. 

By the time I got back to the common room, I had nearly finished the quill. I sat on a couch and was considering what to do when I felt the other side sink under someone else’s weight. 

Remus cleared his throat, and looked at his hands for a second before turning to look at me. “I- um… I’ve been looking into learning Occlumency. Mainly just reading up on the theoretical side now, I haven’t had any actual practice with a… um…” he shook his head, as if understanding he was I’d like it if you’d help me.” 

“I’ll think about it.” I didn’t really want to help him. In the past, before he’d gone and ignored me for months on end, I likely would have. But, I reminded myself, fear of a person’s potential isn’t reason enough to entirely ignore them. Especially when they clearly weren’t going to use it maliciously. I got out my Transfiguration textbook, a part of me wishing Remus would leave, while another part wanted him to stay. 

It seemed the latter part of me got it’s wish, as he remained by my side, retrieving his own book out of his bag, and pulling out a sheet of parchment. “Have you finished the essay on human Transfiguration?” I shook my head, looking around the room for any sign of James, Peter or Sirius. The boy beside me either didn’t notice, or just chose to not comment. “Good, I haven’t either. We can do it together.” 

I didn’t know what he considered to be ‘together’ but we worked side by side in silence for what felt like an hour or so until the rest of the Marauders returned. 

“If you don’t mind [Last Name], we’ll be taking Moony now.” I briefly looked up from my nearly-finished essay, just long enough to see that Sirius was grinning, although I couldn’t tell whether it was at Remus or me. Turning my attention back to the work in front of me, I just waved my hand in a vaguely ‘go ahead’ manner. 

“Good night,” Remus said quietly, before picking up his book and leaving. 

~~~

“Remus,” I waved a hand in front of his face, trying to catch his attention, “you look awful.” 

He did, and even his attempt at a grin didn’t fool me. “Why thank you [Name]. You look as pretty as ever.” I glared at him, ignoring his delirious compliment. 

“You’ve been staring at the same page for ten minutes.” He began to complain, but I talked over him. “You look like you haven’t slept in weeks. Go to bed.”  
“But-” 

I took the book from Remus’s hands, closing it and putting it back into his bag. I stared expectantly at him until he stood to leave. “And Remus? I will send one of your friends to check that you are asleep.” He laughed tiredly, rubbing his eyes as he climbed slowly to the boys dorms. After watching him leave, I turned back to the reading that he’d failed to comprehend. 

It had become a common sight, Remus and I sitting side by side on a couch studying or doing homework. At first I had assumed it was his way to repair our relationship so I would agree to teach him Occlumency, but after a week or so with no mention of the practice I began to think it was merely for the company. Especially when I occasionally felt him glancing at the side of my face. We were usually quiet, save for a question here or there, but our silence had evolved to a comfortable one. If our routine was interrupted, it was usually by Remus’s prefect duties or the other Marauders, but I’d been anticipating this week’s disturbance of our new norm. I hadn't, however, anticipated his feigning normality to continue with his schoolwork. Although, I suppose I should have, he did attend classes in such a state. I shook my head, returning to the work, which had been admittedly… horribly boring. 

I was still trying to make my way through the same chapter some time a day or two later, when Sirius, the last Marauder, approached me. 

“[Last Name].” 

“Black.” He pulled out the chair beside mine, sitting down. “What are you doing in the library?” 

“What do you think of Remus?” I stared at him blankly. 

“Remus?” 

“Remus. He’s a bit shorter than me, brown hair, enjoys reading, ring a bell?” 

“Why do you ask?” 

“Just wondering,” Sirius smiled, a sly smile that all the Marauders seemed to have figured out. 

“I like him well enough.” In fact, I liked him very well, but I was mindful of my words. If Sirius of all people was to open his big mouth, I’d likely die of embarrassment. 

He nodded, smile still intact, seemingly not believing a word I said. “He’s in the hospital wing.” 

Of course he was. “And?” 

“Just something to think about. Since you have taken an interest in his health this year.” I felt he was referring to the chocolate. 

I turned back to my textbook, rereading the same sentence I had been mindlessly looking at before Sirius showed up. He studied me for a second before standing to leave, shaking his head and muttering something under his breath. I was able to make my way through the last few pages of the chapter, occasionally jotting down a note. When I was finished I sighed in relief, face planting onto the cover of the book. I decided I would visit Remus. And maybe, so long as Potter and Black didn’t bug me too much, I’d offer the Occlumency help Remus had requested those weeks ago. 

I was happy to see that the Marauders weren’t by Remus’s bedside when I arrived at the hospital wing. He seemed surprised that I’d come to see him, but I tried to ignore that, sitting down in the chair facing his bed. I pulled out the parchment I had just recently been scribbling on. 

“I copied the notes for you.” 

Remus said a quiet “thank you”, but I noticed he hadn’t looked at the pages. His gaze was fixed on my face, and I felt like I was being inspected. I looked at him, noting that his eye bags seemed somehow deeper, and he looked more skeletal than he had a few days before. There was a cut on his arm too, and I noticed a couple smaller ones littering his face. 

“And if you still want it, I’ll help you learn Occlumency.” 

Remus thought for a second, speaking up just as I’d begun to think I’d said something wrong. “You can look.” He pointed at his head hesitantly. 

“Do you want me to?” I was hesitant to look into his eyes. 

“Yeah,” I looked into his eyes, wordlessly checking to make sure he wasn’t lying. He wasn’t. 

“Okay.” I took a breath, unsure in what I was about to do. I looked into his eyes as I breathed out. 

~~~

It was night, sometime I assumed in winter. Remus was running through the forest, illuminated by the moonlight. But it wasn’t Remus. I looked into the sky, coming to an understanding I should have come to a long time ago. About once a month he’d disappear, he had scratches on his face and arms, Merlin, even his nickname was Moony; Remus was a werewolf. That was why he looked so ill. 

I faltered at the realization. Everything I’d ever heard about werewolves from my parents had been bad. But Remus wasn’t. He was a prefect, he was smart, he had normal friends. I attempted to shake off the realization. I could deal with that later. At the sound of footsteps I turned. Three animals were facing the wolf. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs… These were the rest of the Marauders. I watched in silence as they ran through the forest.

I was preparing myself to leave. I’d seen all I’d needed to. And yet, I was still there as the memory changed. It was the end of the potions lesson that day in February. Remus was nearly panicked. The person who had sat next to him for the entire school year so far, the girl he’d liked, knew wandless Legilimency. Did she know yet? She hadn’t said anything, that meant he was fine, right?

It was time for me to go. I had looked far enough into his memories. 

~~~

Remus was looking at me expectantly. I blinked, regaining my bearings. “You mean to say that Sirius and James were smart enough to become animagi?” Remus looked relieved, but he wasn’t the one to answer. 

“I’ll have you know we’re quite gifted.” James was standing in the doorway smiling at the two of us. 

“And very relieved that you two weren’t just staring lovesick at each other.” Sirius stood behind James, pushing him forwards into the room. “It was fine for the first minute but by the fifth it had become concerning.” I ignored the two, turning back to Remus to say goodbye. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” I pecked him on the forehead before turning around, ignoring the smirks from the two idiots in front of me. When I was almost out the door I turned briefly, “tell me if you still want that Occlumency help.”


	3. George Weasley

“Fred, what did you do?” I had just been broken up with by a fairly disheveled and panicked Roger Davies. 

“Why'd you assume I did anything?” The tall redhead gave me an innocent grin, and I knew he had done _something_ to Roger, even if my accusation before had been based entirely on an educated guess. Fred Weasley was never _innocent_. 

“You ruined my relationship. I know for a fact that Angelina, Katie, Oliver, nor George would do this to me.” 

“Well then, it seems you have an idea as to exactly what I did. If you have nothing else to say, it’s time for breakfast.” 

I stood still, glaring at him.“This isn’t funny Fred.” 

“Think about this; how sad have you actually been about being broken up with?” 

My glare hardened, “you got Roger to break up with me to _try_ and prove a point?” 

“Just think about it.” Fred left in the direction of the Great Hall, and I reluctantly followed, questioning if he was a sociopath. 

I was pulled into a seat by Angie and Katie, finding myself right across from the twins. I could see Roger behind them, and I briefly wondered if there was any damage in trying to talk to him again. Fred, seeing that I was looking at my (now ex) boyfriend, raised an eyebrow at me. I narrowed my eyes at him in response. I thought no one else had seen the exchange, but felt a small jab from Katie’s side accompanied by a quizzical look from the brown haired girl. I mouthed to her that I’d tell her later, and she seemed to accept that before turning back to her breakfast. 

Katie had kept me to my promise, as after classes, when we were sitting by the Great Lake with Angelina and Alicia, she brought the subject back up. 

“What was going on between you and Fred?” The other two girls over, Katie’s sentence having apparently distracted them from their own topic of conversation. 

I scrunched my nose, “absolutely nothing.” She looked at me skeptically. “Really Katie, don’t say it like that. It makes me sound bad.” 

“Well then, what was the glare you gave him at breakfast? And where has Davies been all of today? It’s not like I’m not happy you’re spending time with us, but usually you two at least…” The girl beside me trailed off, seemingly having reached a conclusion. “He _didn’t_.” 

“If what he ‘didn’t’ do refers to him making Roger break up with me, then he most definitely did.” 

The three of them looked at me sympathetically, but it was Angelina who spoke up next. “Why would he do that?” She sounded angry on my behalf. 

“He was trying to prove that I didn’t really love Roger,” I complained, “he asked me something about ‘how sad I’d actually been about being broken up with’.” I shook my head, changing the subject. I wasn’t blind to their worried glances, but it wasn’t too bad, I felt better than I ever thought I would after being broken up with. 

~~~

My relationship with Roger had ended quite amicably. In conversation after the whole ordeal we’d both agreed that the relationship had become stagnant, and it was for the best that we’d separated, even though the method by which we were separated was not ideal. We were better as friends, and now that we’d returned to being friends I felt relieved. It certainly made Charms class more comfortable. 

“Your spell backfired,” I told him while laughing, “your hair is purple.” 

“No it isn’t,” class was dismissed, and he still didn’t believe me. 

“Mr. Davies,” Professor Flitwick called for him, “unless you meant to turn your hair purple, please come back and fix it.” I snickered a bit as he sheepishly went back into the classroom. 

“You look happy.” I turned to see Fred and George behind me. Fred was looking at Roger suspiciously, while George looked a bit annoyed, at what I couldn’t tell. 

I turned around, knowing the twins were following me. “It’s nothing.” I looked at Fred before lowering my voice, “you made sure of that didn’t you?” 

“What?” George looked mildly alarmed. 

“Nothing,” Fred waved him off, and George looked at me. I was about to open my mouth when I was swept away by Angelina, Alicia, and Katie. 

~~~

“I’m really sorry about what Fred did. If you want I can talk to Davies and…” I didn’t think Fred would actually tell his twin what he’d done. 

“It’s fine George.” There had always been a reason I liked him better. He was kinder than his older brother, and I’d noticed he’d gotten even kinder in the past year or so. He looked worried, so I grabbed his hand, pulling him to sit beside me. “Really, Roger and I both agreed. Even though Fred is an arse.” 

“If you’re sure.”

“I am, don’t worry about it.” I noticed his hand still in mine. I averted my eyes, unaware of what to do. I tried to think of another subject. “How’s the shop? I saw some of your order forms.” 

“It’s good,” he kept talking, excitement in his eyes as he explained his and Fred’s ideas for their dream joke shop, which was slowly becoming more of a reality. _How could you disagree with Fred? You could never love Roger more than you love this._ Looking at the redhead beside me, and at our joined hands, I couldn’t disagree. 

~~~

“[Name],” Angie, Alicia, and Katie were waiting for me by the entrance to the common room before breakfast. “Are you going to the quidditch game today?” 

“I don’t know Angie, I’m very afraid of bludgers.” I didn’t trust Fred to understand the importance of keeping my face intact. 

“You’ll be fine,” the person in question came and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “Georgie will make sure nothing messes up your pretty face, won’t he?” He looked to his twin, and I glared at him, unbeknownst to the fact George had done the same thing. He put his hands up defensively upon seeing our reactions. “Ginny’s going too, you’ll have some company.” 

I nodded, looking around the room to find the younger girl and giving her a kind smile. “I’ll go.” 

I was used to all my friends being on the quidditch team, and as much as Angelina had phrased it as a question, I knew my attendance at quidditch games was mandatory. Usually before games, the whole team was a bit antsy. This one especially had everyone excited, as it was both against Slytherin and the game that determined if they would win the cup. George, who sat beside me, was tapping his foot so much my pumpkin juice began to shake. 

I kicked his shin lightly. “Stop that.” He didn’t have any food on his plate, so I gave him a piece of toast. “You’ll do great.” He looked no better, but he did take a few bites of the toast on his plate. I wondered if something else was on his mind, he wasn’t usually this nervous. I didn’t ask though, turning instead to talk to Angelina. 

“Oliver really wants us to win this year.” I knew that I'd been to most of the practices, and Wood was more intent on getting the cup than he’d ever been before. 

“He always wants you to win.” I took a bite of my food, checking George’s plate to make sure he’d finished his breakfast. 

“He wants it more this year. It’s his last.” Wood arrived to the group, gesturing to the rest of the team that it was time for them to go. They all stood, and I followed them outside, turning to go to the stands while the team went to change. 

I was joined shortly by Ginny, who was sporting Gryffindor’s signature red and gold. “Why aren’t you wearing our house colors?” I looked down at my plain sweatshirt, taking out my wand to turn it red. 

We sat silently as the game started, my gaze travelling the field for a few minutes before landing on George.I thought I had been subtle, but when Ginny elbowed me in the side and looked at me slyly, I knew she was telling me I wasn’t. 

“You’re no better,” I teased her lightly, “I’ve seen you staring at Harry.” 

“There’s a difference,” she muttered, looking sadder than I expected, “George likes you.” I turned my attention back to the game in front of me and scoffed. “He does!” Ginny protested. “Why do you think Fred was trying to prove that point using Davies?” 

“An attempt to be annoying?” 

“Well, that too. He did it because he knew you didn’t like Davies, and he knew George wouldn’t do anything himself.” I raised an eyebrow. “He’s more… moral. Especially when he likes someone.” I must have still looked really disbelieving, as Ginny rolled her eyes. “I bet if you were to flirt with that guy over there,” she pointed at a fairly attractive guy, “there would mysteriously be a bludger hit his way.” 

I rejected that offer, trying to think of something to say about Harry. “Ginny, I think he’d like you better if you actually acted like you around him.” 

“And if he doesn’t?” Ginny focused intently on the match. 

“Then he’s not worth any of your time. There are plenty of people who would.” I cringed at my unwarranted advice, but she looked at me with a half smile. 

I turned my attention back to the match, as did Ginny, and we both cheered loudly as Katie scored another goal, and Harry caught the snitch. 

The party in the common room was loud, but I was happy to see the excitement on all of my friends’ faces. Alicia whooped as she ran over to me, still grinning widely from their win. I smiled just as wide as she, pulling her into a hug. The twins entered loudly, carrying more food and drinks with them. 

“Come on,” Katie and Angelina pulled the two of us over to the table, “I think they have firewhiskey.” 

I followed them, accepting only a small glass of the drink. I looked around the room for the twins, seeing them by the window. I made my way over to where they stood, focused on the small cylinders in their hands. Upon looking closer, I realized they were fireworks, and hoped that whatever the twins were going to do wasn’t going to start a fire. When he saw me, Fred grinned and whispered something to George, who turned to face me as well. Fred walked off, waving to me and glancing around the room. 

“Good job, I guess there wasn’t much to be nervous about.” I came to the realization I was standing very close to him, and considered taking a step back. 

George smirked with a bit of uncertainty, before leaning over a bit to come face to face with my shorter stature. “I’d say there’s still something.” 

“Yeah?” My voice had dropped to nearly a whisper. 

“Yeah.” His eyes landed on my lips, and I knew what he was going to do before I felt his lips ]press against mine. He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me to his side as he pulled away. I looked around the common room to see if anyone had seen our moment. Fred was smirking in our direction, and Ginny had her eyebrow raised at me. A moment later however, they’d both turned away. Fred began setting off his fireworks, and Ginny turned to strike up a conversation with Hermione. 

“Have you been drinking that firewhiskey?” 

“Not much,” he held up a glass about the same size as mine, “just enough to hold up my end of Fred’s deal.” 

“His deal?” 

“If we win the cup, I tell you.” 

“Tell me what?” I played dumb, mirroring the grin the twins had perfected. 

“Oh nothing,” he pulled me closer to him, kissing me on the top of my head, “just that I love you very much.” I leaned my head against his shoulder, watching the rest of the common room as the celebration continued. 


	4. Draco Malfoy || Voldemort's Task

For years, my family had been intent on a marriage into the Malfoy family. They had been mentioning it since they found out we were the same age, and they’d enlisted my younger sister to keep watch and make sure I was doing as they instructed. She had always been willing, wanting to prove to my parents that she was the perfect pureblood daughter I wasn’t. I had befriended him in first year, in part as a measure of self preservation, but also in a genuine attempt to make friends. By sixth year, they became more persistent. My father, who was a proud Death Eater, had explained to me that Draco had been inducted early, and my parents made clear that was exactly what they wanted in a son-in-law: a driven, rich boy with good connections who agreed with their views. 

“Yeah, and he’s given me an important job.” Draco had been bragging about his new Dark Mark since we’d gotten on the train. I’d taken to ignoring him, looking out at the scenery instead. 

“[Name],” Pansy lightly shook my shoulder. “Your sister’s out there.” She was looking into our compartment with a smug grin on her face. I waved at her mockingly, and she waved back in a similar fashion before walking away to rejoin her friends. I stood to go find the trolley witch. I needed some candy, and a break from Draco. I wondered how long the blonde’s bragging would last before the rest of him caught up to his ego. 

~~~

I sat in the common room, unable to fall asleep. I stared into what was left of the fire, hoping it would somehow put me into a tired state. I could hear the footsteps of someone entering, and upon seeing the light blonde hair, I called Draco’s name. 

“What are you still doing up?” He asked, startled a bit by the noise in a room he’d expected to be empty. 

“A girl, Katie, has been hurt.” I looked closely at him for a reaction. “Nobody knows how yet, but she was sent to St. Mungo’s.” He looked off to the side of the room, saying nothing. His pale face stood out in the darkness of the room, but his skin seemed a bit grey. It was probably from the lake. 

“Is there something you’d like me to do about that?” While his comment was sarcastic, his voice sounded tired. 

“No,” I turned my attention back to the fire, “just be careful.” He didn’t respond, and for a while there was silence until I heard his footsteps lead him to the boys dorms. 

~~~

By December Draco was starting to visibly sink under the weight of his task. Pansy was becoming concerned, and I had to admit she was validated. He had stopped participating in quidditch, and would disappear for long intervals. Nobody had any idea as to where he’d gone except for Crabbe and Goyle, and even then they only occasionally knew. The good aspect to this new behavior was that my sister had very little to report to our parents, although I doubted she’d be doing much of that anyways. She’d found herself a nice pureblood boyfriend, and had since been a little too preoccupied to jump down my throat about my lack of ambition to obtain a suitable heir. 

“I don’t know what’s wrong,” Pansy explained tearfully, “he hasn’t told me.” Even if he had told people, I doubted Pansy would be that high a priority. 

“Just give him time Pansy, I’m sure when he’s ready he’ll tell you.” In our time as friends I’d learned it’s best to just humor her slightly delusional beliefs. We entered the Great Hall, and she sat beside him, worriedly asking if he had gotten any sleep or eaten. I sat down beside her, noticing Potter from a few tables away. He was glaring at Draco but I disregarded it; the two had always been at eachothers throats. I turned to my sister, who was sitting close to Harper. 

“You can tell me what it is,” Pansy reached to touch Draco’s forearm, but he flinched. She let go swiftly, like one would a burning stove, realizing her mistake. She was sitting to his left. He hurriedly stood, leaving Crabbe and Goyle confused, and Pansy even more worried. I glanced back to the Gryffindor table, watching as Potter stared at the blonde’s back suspiciously. 

I turned back to Pansy, seeing her start to stand up. I grabbed her arm. “Let him be.” His task couldn’t be easy. The Dark Lord wasn’t lenient, even to his followers. 

~~~

When I’d heard crying coming from Myrtle’s bathroom I expected a girl. I figured it could be Myrtle herself, but I didn’t think it’d be Draco. He was standing staring out a window, and in the split second before he turned around I figured I had two options. I could leave, or I could pretend I had some business in there that wasn’t related to Draco Malfoy or his mental breakdown. Instead of choosing an action and quickly executing it, I stayed put, frozen in place. 

“Who’s there?” He whipped around, taking his wand out and pointing it at me in a smooth motion. I froze, dropping the book in my hands. We both studied each other. His eyes were red, his face had definitely lost some color, and his jaw was clenched, as if he was trying to keep a bit of dignity even in his current state. He lowered his wand, putting it hesitantly back into his pocket as I picked up my book from the floor. Moaning Myrtle flew through the walls of a stall, and came to a stop in front of me. 

“Hello Myrtle,” I said awkwardly, happy at least to have someone else to focus on. 

“[Name],” She nodded in my direction. “Did you invite her here?” She asked Draco, although I thought the answer was quite clear.

“No.” Draco’s voice was flat, and I wondered if he thought the answer should be obvious as well. He turned back to me, cold facade cracked, but still on. “You’d best not tell anyone.”

I had no idea what to say; it’s likely he didn’t want me to mention his crying, that would hurt his wounded pride even more. I averted my attention to the rest of the bathroom. “It’s a shame this bathroom was put out of use.” I walked to the window behind the sinks. “I always liked the view.” He scoffed, and I glanced back at him, beckoning him over. “Really, look at the sunset.” Although he acted like the request was absurd, he walked slowly to stand beside me. 

~~~

“What are you doing here?” I felt a sense of deja-vu as Draco stood in front of me, eyes red. This time however, I hadn’t expected anyone else to be here. 

“I’m avoiding my sister.” 

“A trip to the library should do the trick.” I was surprised he’d noticed. 

“ _ Should.  _ She figured that one out.” I settled into the round window, pulling out homework. “You look tired.” 

“Whatever you’re trying to do, I’m useless to you now…” he started pacing, messing with his hair, almost pulling at it. “I’m going to fail. I’m supposed to. This never was about…” 

I looked up from my homework, “I know.” I made room beside myself but made no other motion encouraging him to sit. 

“It’ll only be so long until your parents do too.” 

“What are you talking about?” 

“I know what you’re doing, I’ve seen your sister. I know what your family wants.” 

“I’m not doing anything, I don’t listen to them.” 

“Isn’t that nice.” He’d said it quietly, but I could still hear. 

“You don’t have to either.” I was lying, I knew he did. And he knew I was lying. Neither of us were blind to the way pureblood society, or at least the portion regarding the Dark Lord, tended to work. Instead of answering however, he sat beside me. He leaned his head back onto the glass, staring forwards silently, and I turned back to my homework.

“We should head to dinner.” I looked up from my parchment, having lost track of time. The sun was starting to set. I shoved my things back into my bag and stood, waiting as he did the same. 

“Pansy’s worried about you.” Draco looked unsurprised. “She says you haven’t been showing up for patrols.” 

“And?” His voice wasn’t cold, just expectant. 

“You should tell her you’re alright.” I knew it likely wouldn’t stop the girl from worrying, but I was somewhat desperate for it to stop. 

He scoffed, but said nothing, and when we reached the table he pulled me down to sit beside him, across from a still concerned but now slightly confused Pansy. I looked to the table of Gryffindors to see Potter looking at Malfoy again. He was staring between the two of us, looking even more suspicious than he had before. 

~~~

I had become accustomed to the dungeons late at night. The common room would be empty, and I was able to get things done without others around. There were many nights I couldn’t fall asleep, and this was one of them, except this time it was partially due to news that had been going around some of the Gryffindors. 

“You should be asleep,” Draco sat beside me on the couch. 

“So should you,” I shot back halfheartedly. “Did you hear about Weasley?”

“Why would you think I care about a blood traitor like Weaselbee?” 

“He was poisoned.” 

Draco sneered, “a blood traitor like him…” He didn’t finish his sentence, but I could take a good enough guess. 

“You’d best avoid sharing that opinion with Potter,” I said reproachfully. “He’s suspicious you’re doing something, and I’m sure the poisoning of his best friend isn’t going to lessen his suspicions.” 

“Are you accusing me?” 

“I’m not getting involved in whatever you’re doing. I’m saying you should be careful.” 

“You think I’m afraid of Potter?” 

“No, I know you’re afraid of the Dark Lord, and I don’t think he’d appreciate Potter being involved in whatever it is you’re doing for him.” 

He put his head on my shoulder lightly, staring blankly at the window. “Why does it have to be so difficult?” He sounded childish, but I genuinely didn’t have an answer for him. 

~~~

When I saw a puddle of bloody water on the floor leading into the boy’s bathroom I had half a mind to go inside. I stopped a few feet away, listening to the sound of Myrtle screeching before deciding to enter in case someone needed help. Opening the door, I was met not only with the expected view of Myrtle Warren- who looked to be enjoying herself- but also that of a shocked Harry Potter, and a bloody Draco Malfoy. Potter looked dazed, but upon hearing my entrance to the room he turned to look at me instead. His expression became guarded, and I saw him point his wand at me. 

I ignored him, turning instead to the blonde, who was lying still on the floor. “Draco, Draco!” He was looking at me, although I couldn’t tell his expression. “Here, don’t worry, I’ll get Professor…” but before I could finish my statement, Professor Snape entered the bathroom. 

“Put the wand down Potter.” I scrambled to the side, watching as he leaned down beside the blood-soaked Draco. He began to mumble a countercurse, rising after the wounds were starting to close. He muttered something to Draco before looking at Potter and me over his shoulder. 

“[Last Name], I expect you gone by the time I return.” His voice turned colder, “and you, Potter… You wait here for me.” 

“What happened?” Harry didn’t respond. I looked from Harry to Myrtle. “What happened?” I repeated myself, my voice oddly harsh. 

“Harry’s just tried to murder Malfoy,” Myrtle answered. “It’s almost a shame he didn’t, I would’ve enjoyed having a companion.” 

“Myrtle-” I was about to tell her off, but Harry began to speak.

“I didn’t mean to. He was crying and then- He started it. I didn’t know what the spell did, I just-”

“Do you usually try out random spells on people?” 

“No. I-” he stuttered, “we were dueling and-” I glared between him and Myrtle, who sounded akin to a banshee at this point. 

Professor Snape returned, both Harry and I turning as he opened the door. “Ms. [Last Name],” he addressed me first, “you will find that Mr. Malfoy is currently in the Hospital Wing.” I took the hint, avoiding his eyes as I left. 

When I made it to the Hospital Wing, I found Draco looking pale, but less bloody. “Your sister found me,” he said, “in Myrtle’s bathroom. She was looking for you.” 

I had nothing to do with that information. “What did you get yourself into?” 

“Nothing, Potter attacked me.” I stared at him incredulously, willing him to tell me if he was lying. “Do you not believe me?” 

“I don’t know,” I said truthfully. 

“Well, he did. I was talking to Myrtle and he came in and attacked me. He hit me with this spell I’d never heard of.” 

“It seemed he hadn’t either,” I brushed a bit of hair out of his face, “he looked shocked. And a bit guilty.” 

“I hope you haven’t started feeling bad for Potter.” 

“Of course not.” 

“Draco? Blaise told me he saw you being taken to the... [Name]?” I stiffened, turning to see Pansy looking between the two of us. “Are you two…” she looked from Draco to me and back pointedly. 

“Yes,” he said, grabbing my hand quickly before I had even opened my mouth to say no. He tugged at my hand, tilting his head a bit to indicate I should lean over. When my hair fell to obstruct Pansy’s view, he whispered quietly. “Please, this gives me an excuse.” I just sighed, rolling my eyes and leaning closer. 

“You owe me.” I stood straight, turning to Pansy with a strained smile. “For most of this year.” 

“[Name],” she looked disappointed, and I prepared for her to get angry. “You could have told me.” 

“What?” 

“I wouldn’t have told your sister, you could have told me.” 

I mumbled out some sort of noncommittal response, not expecting that to be her answer. “I need to go talk to Professor Snape.” I glanced down at Draco, unaware of how soft my expression was. He leaned up in his bed, kissing me on the corner of my lips- close enough to not look platonic, not close enough to indicate the level of romantic intimacy we hadn’t reached. But as I left, I wondered if we actually had. 


	5. Harry Potter || Childhood Friends

4/6/2020

Before he had left, I’d been under the impression that Harry and I were friends. While he wasn’t popular with other children at school, I wasn’t either, and we’d bonded a bit over that. We were the ones Dudley picked on, who occasionally made odd things happen. It didn’t seem to matter that he was a year above me, or that I rarely saw him outside of school. I knew his home life was bad, and I hadn’t wanted to make anything worse by trying to see him outside of school. The one time I’d broken that rule was after he left. I knew he would be moving on to secondary school, but had figured that wouldn’t mean a complete end to our friendship. I had seemingly been wrong, as after a week or two I hadn’t seen nor heard from him, even though I had gone out of my way to try and find him and was certain I’d given him my address at the end of the last school year. 

I had begun to worry, so a few weeks into my final year of primary school, I found myself ringing the doorbell to his house. I was greeted by an unimpressed, very fat man, who sneered down at me. 

“Do you know where Harry’s gone?” I asked, and he began to turn a bit red. 

He glared at me, before looking over his shoulder at a lady in the kitchen. “Petunia this,” he looked at me disgustedly, “ _ girl _ wants to know where the boy’s gone.” I had half a mind to just leave, but I waited patiently while he explained that Harry had gone to some institute for criminal children, and that I’d best leave the family well enough alone if I knew what was good for me. He slammed the door in my face, and I could hear him muttering about there being ‘another freak’. 

By November I’d given up hope that Harry would write, and I was reminded of how lonely it had been before I met him. I pitifully questioned if he had really been my friend, scoffing at the childhood crush I’d had on him.

When my birthday arrived however, so did some inexplicably extraordinary news. A kind looking woman had come to the door to hand deliver a letter, and she had come inside to explain it’s contents. I was apparently a witch, and was to go to Hogwarts for the rest of my education to improve my magical abilities. It sounded a bit far-fetched, but my parents were quite receptive to what the older lady had said. I was just happy to get a chance at a fresh start, hopefully with people who understood and were as ‘odd’ as I. 

~~~

I had boarded the Hogwarts Express, and was looking at my wand and owl in awe. I almost felt I was dreaming, and would be awoken by my mother, who would inform me that it was time I got going to a non-magical secondary school lest I be late. What reassured me was the blonde girl who sat across from me, holding a copy of a magazine. 

“I’m Luna,” she greeted me, looking up from her magazine at the space around my head. “You’d best move, Nargles are surrounding your head.” I jolted a bit. Maybe she wasn’t the most reassuring. 

Another girl, this one with red hair, poked her head into the compartment, “don’t listen to her. Nargles don’t exist” She brought her trunk behind her, placing it overhead with our things as she made herself comfortable at my side. “Ginny Weasley,” she introduced. 

“I’m [Name], er- [Last Name]. What’s a Nargle?” 

“Oh, they’re these small creatures that steal things.” Luna spoke dreamily, introducing herself to Ginny. 

“Don’t worry,” Ginny reassured, dropping her voice, “there are no such things.” She looked me over, watching the way I was messing with my wand and looking around the train. “Are you a muggleborn?” 

“A what?” 

“Oh, then I suppose so. Muggles are non-magical people. If your parents were both muggles you’re a muggleborn.” 

“O-oh, yeah.” I was embarrassed by my lack of knowledge, but was well aware it likely wouldn’t be the last time. 

“That’s fine, we’ll help you.” Luna smiled at me, and I felt I was already off to a better start than in primary school. I ogled the scenery as Luna and Ginny made true on their promise, beginning to describe to me, in the somewhat scattered manner any excited eleven year old would, the world of magic I’d been blind to my whole life. Luna had a fascination with magical creatures, but Ginny kept informing me under her breath that some of the things Luna said were just wrong.

“We best change into our robes,” Ginny informed me, and I nodded, grabbing my things before following her. 

The boat ride and the school were both breathtaking. As Luna and Ginny were both first years as well, they had been unable to tell me about Hogwarts past the things Ginny had heard from her older brothers. Even if they had, I thought, I would still be taken aback by the beauty of the school. I was snapped out of my reverie only by a stern looking older woman, who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall. She led us into the dining hall, and I was immediately taken aback by the hanging candles and long tables, each filled with students of a different house. I wondered about the candles briefly, but kept to myself. Ginny likely wouldn’t know and I couldn’t tell yet if what Luna said was fact.

A stool sat in the front of the hall, between both the student’s tables and the faculty one, and one by one Professor McGonagall called first year students up, putting the hat on their head and waiting as it made the decision as to which house they should be in. I was worried, not only would I be going up in front of the whole school, I didn’t know how the hat was determining houses. Luna went before me, she was sorted into Ravenclaw. 

“[Name] [Last Name].” 

I glanced at Ginny, who pushed me towards the stool. “Go, I’ll end up in Gryffindor anyways.” I nodded, breathing deeply and approaching the hat, which was set on my head. 

“Hmm… nervous are you? Don’t worry, we’ll find the right house for you.” The hat began muttering, and I took the time to look around the tables, my gaze stopping on a group of redheads at the Gryffindor table, Ginny’s family I assumed. I moved on, looking instead at Luna and Ginny, listening more to what the hat had to say. It seemed however, that the hat had made its decision. 

“Ravenclaw!” It declared, and I set the hat back on the stool, thanking it awkwardly before scurrying off towards Luna.

~~~

“Luna, does Ginny seem a bit off to you?” It had only been a week or so, but I was worried. Ginny, who had been immediately kind and outgoing, was beginning to become a bit distant. Maybe I didn’t know her well enough to begin with. 

I searched the Gryffindor table for my friend, finding my gaze on a group of redheads who I assumed were her siblings. Beside one of her brothers though, was a shockingly familiar face. I looked away, turning to Luna who explained that it was probably the Wrackspurts. 

After breakfast I’d noticed more mentions of Harry, and I wondered if they’d actually become more frequent or if I had just been oblivious to them before. I came to realize it was probably the latter, as even Ginny had talked of him before. Somehow, I had assumed this Harry that was friends with Ron couldn’t have been the same one from my childhood. As a few weeks went on, I had picked together a bit more about him from other students. I thought I had seen him glance at me before, but I still hadn’t talked to him. What would be the point? 

I became more concerned for Ginny though, as she’d become more distant, especially after a cat and a student in our year was petrified. Talk began to go around that muggleborns were in danger, and the note on the wall about enemies to the heir of Slytherin were just as ominous. By mid-December there were rumors that Harry had been the one to do it, as he’d spoken to a snake. I was beginning to doubt the wonders of the school I attended. 

“[Name]!” It seemed Harry had in fact, noticed I’d come to Hogwarts. I turned, seeing Luna do the same. I gestured to her that she could continue on, and she wandered off. “You’re…” 

“Yeah.” I didn’t know what I’d expected from our first conversation, but I was certain it wouldn’t be this. Maybe a dramatic, angry confrontation, maybe an overjoyed greeting, but not as much awkward silence. 

“Did you know?” 

“No,” I cleared my throat, “my parents are uh, muggles. Both of them.” 

“I’m sorry,” I assumed he meant about not writing, but I had no response. 

“Okay.” We were both silent for a while, and I was certain our conversation was over. I turned to leave, but was stopped when he hesitantly began to speak. 

“You- you should be careful.” He scratched the back of his neck. “If the thing is going after muggleborns.” His two friends arrived, the bushy-haired girl holding Ron back a bit, and he looked behind him at the two, who were glancing between us. 

“Yeah, I will.” I turned on my heel, walking off as quickly as I could. 

~~~

“Ginny?” I looked concernedly at my friend. “Ginny!” February had arrived, and something was definitely wrong with her. I knew she had been mortified by Malfoy’s accusation that the valentine to Harry was from her, but that had been at least a week ago, and her spacey behavior had been ongoing for way longer. 

“[Name],” she frantically tried to articulate something, “you have to… Riddle… I can’t remember…” 

“BOO!” I jumped, looking ahead at Ginny’s brothers, Fred and George, who had just jumped from behind a suit of armor. I glanced at Ginny, who was frozen with her mouth opened. 

“Ginny?” Her gaze darted from me to her brothers, and she suddenly seemed even more inarticulate. She just pushed through the taller redheads, and after a confused look with the two I hurried after her. “Ginny!” 

I bumped into a person, and quickly backed up, not looking as I apologized profusely. “It’s alright [Name].” Harry stood before me, and I was made aware of the fact he’d grabbed my arm to stabilize me. His other hand went up to rearrange some hairs that had fallen into my face, and I re-caught my bearings as quickly as possible. 

“Look, I-I have to go.” I pointed at Ginny’s receding figure. “She’s not-” Harry just nodded understandingly, letting go of my arm as his bushy-haired friend stared at the interaction. I nodded in parting to the two, brushing past Harry and running after the redhead once more. 

~~~

“Come on,” Ginny’s voice was serious but hollow, and her eyes looked glazed. 

“Where are we going?” I was cautious. 

“Follow me, or I’ll have to hex you.” I felt in my robes for my wand, but came up empty. “You don’t have it, you can’t do anything.” She led me into the girl’s bathroom on the second floor and faced a mirror. She hissed something, and slowly the sink lowered, leading to a trapdoor, which was opened and I was promptly shoved down. 

“Ow! Ginny!” I complained, as the girl fell on top of me, albeit much more gracefully than I had. 

She didn’t respond, merely picked herself up, walking towards a door with snakes on it. She hissed again, and the snakes moved, swinging the door open. I followed her hesitantly, seeing no other options to escape the creepy, and slightly gross passageway. We got to a long chamber, and Ginny walked to the end of it before collapsing near a book. I looked around, noting the tall stone pillars and the creepy carving of a man Ginny had collapsed under. I sat beside her, reaching for the book, which had ‘Tom Marvolo Riddle’ engraved on the front. It looked familiar, but why? 

“It’s really a shame.” A tall boy with dark, curly hair stood behind me. “Poor Ginny, she never intended for this to happen. Although then again,” he seemed too amused for the situation at hand, “she was the one to confide in a faceless stranger.” 

“What?” I looked back to the journal opening it only to find the pages were blank. 

“Indeed, little Ginny needed someone to confide in. I’ve found I can be quite a good shoulder to cry on. You see, she couldn’t very well tell her new friends, and her brothers certainly wouldn’t understand. I was reliable and understanding, and most of all, I was enthusiastic for more.” 

“But, she could have told me.” My argument was weak, and I was slowly becoming tired. 

“You were her new friend. Would you have confided so much in someone you’d only just met on the Hogwarts Express?” He basked in my confused look, “yes, Miss [Name], I’ve heard all about you. And she had too. A certain Mr. Potter had mentioned you to her brother. She told me you were his close friend, a weak spot, or maybe a memory from the past.” He grinned, “it seems we have something in common Miss [Name].” 

Writing began to appear in the book, and I couldn’t help but read it’s contents.  _ Dear Tom, I met a [Name] today, I wonder if she’s the one Harry mentioned. Dear Tom, Harry’s staring at her again, I shouldn’t feel like this, she’s my friend. Dear Tom, I think [Name]’s suspicious, she’s been worried about me for months.  _

I closed the book, snapping out of the trance I’d seemed to be in. It wasn’t my place to read her private thoughts. I looked at Ginny, who seemed to be turning more pale, reaching out to touch her hand, which was beginning to lose heat. 

“It’s too bad this had to happen. Poor Ginny, didn’t know her own actions would kill her friend.” Tom’s voice lacked remorse. I looked up, only beginning to realize how tired I actually was. “Be thankful at least that you didn’t die at the hands of the basilisk. Your kind are a disgrace to Salazar Slytherin. Hogwarts would not miss a single mudblood.” I couldn’t respond, my vision became blurry, and I just remember the sensation of falling before blacking out. 

~~~

“Ginny!” I shot upright, looking around confused as to where I was. A large snake, the basilisk I assumed, was motionless. A figure stood at the other end of the chamber, and I could hear the footsteps echo as the figure walked towards us. I was afraid it was Tom, and he had done as he intended by sapping Ginny of energy, but no, this person was too short. 

“[Name]?” I slowly stood as I began to be able to make out Harry’s face. He studied me worriedly before I launched myself at him, pulling the boy into a hug. 

“Merlin, I hope Hogwarts isn’t always this dangerous.” He laughed hesitantly, hugging me back. We stayed like that until I heard a motion behind me. “Ginny!” I pulled away, turning back to my friend, who was beginning to stir. 

“[Name], Harry, it- it was me. I couldn’t say in front of my brothers but- I didn’t mean to…” She was crying, and while Harry explained the basilisk was dead I sat and wrapped an arm around her. We stood, following Harry and a bright red phoenix. “I’m going to be expelled, what will Mum and Dad think?” 

I tightened my grip on her, “you’ll be alright. Professor Dumbledore will understand.” I tried to offer reassurance, something it seemed Ginny’s brother, Ron, when we found him was not the best at. Professor Lockhart was standing at the end of the hall, and Fawkes prepared to fly us out of the chamber. 

“[Name], grab Ginny’s hand, Ron, grab her other hand.” Harry took my hand with one of his, grabbing Fawkes with the other. I held my hand out to Ginny, smiling at her as she linked hers with mine, on the other side holding hands with Ron, who irritably grabbed Lockhart. I turned back to Harry, and he squeezed my hand reassuringly, bringing back those butterflies that had been there since childhood. 


	6. Sirius Black || Running Away

“What were you thinking?” I was pacing around the bottom of the staircase at the Black’s family home, an irritated Regulus in front of me. “Were you even thinking?” 

“I was  _ thinking, _ ” he said, “that you’d be at least a bit happy for me.” 

“Happy for you? Why would you ever think that?” I lowered my voice, “Regulus, what about Lily?” 

“Those blood traitors changed you. Just because you’re friends with mudbloods doesn’t mean I have to be.” I looked over at the boy, who seemed to not regret what he said. 

“I haven’t changed at all.” I laughed shakily. “You still have a year.” 

“I’m not going to change my mind.” 

“Of course he isn't.” I jumped, startled by the voice of Sirius behind me. “Didn’t you know? He’s always been intent on proving he’s the perfect pureblood son.” 

My laughter turned bitter, and I turned around, quickly exiting the house. When I got to the street I began to walk in the general direction of Diagon Alley. Every few steps I just felt worse, and by the time I had reached a crosswalk I felt like crying. I couldn’t though, Mother had always taught me to remain more dignified than to cry. I felt something soft rub up against my leg, and looked down to see Sirius in dog form. 

“Hey Padfoot.” My voice was shaky, and I sniffed, scratching the panting dog behind the ear. “It’s okay, you can change back.” He did, and we kept walking in relative silence save for a few sniffles. I wiped at my face, angry that I was crying. “I can’t believe him. I mean, I knew our families were like this, but,” I looked over at Sirius, who was still looking ahead of us. “We turned out okay.” 

“He just wants to please our parents. He doesn’t know better.” There was resentment in Sirius’s voice. 

“Still, the ideals, Sirius. How can anyone think that’s acceptable? How can they excuse killing muggles and muggleborns?” 

“I don’t know.” Sirius shrugged, and I found that we had made it to the Leaky Cauldron. He was speaking more nicely than he did at school. “Do you want ice cream?” I nodded, and we began walking towards the ice cream parlour. 

~~~

Sirius had left. He had left the Black household, and he hadn’t even told me. I had to find out from my mother, who had been on about how much she pitied Walburga for at least a day. 

“Poor Walburga, such a shame for her son to embarrass them like that.” My mother would give me a side eye, as if daring me to protest. I had never been quite as rebellious as Sirius, but I had outwardly rejected their beliefs on blood. I smiled thinly at most of her comments. 

Later that day I received a letter from James. He told me, as I’d expected, that Sirius had moved in with him, and if at any point I’d like to come visit ‘to escape the hellish landscape of elitists’ I was free to. 

“[Name], we should visit the Blacks soon.” I was very opposed to this idea, as Regulus and I had kept no correspondence after our argument and Sirius (obviously) was no longer there to keep me company. “Now that the blood traitor is gone, you can spend more time with Regulus. He’s just lovely isn’t he? The model son.” I rolled my eyes, which my mother didn’t take lightly. “I’m serious, that boy was a disgrace to wizardkind. He sympathized with muggles, mudbloods, and if rumors have it, werewolves. It’s about time you grow up and face that. Your decisions affect our family, it’s high time you begin making good ones.” 

I was insulted, livid, about what my parents had said. About Sirius, Lily, and Remus. About my actions, when I’d put up with their deplorable beliefs on status and how I should behave for years. I scoffed as I came to a new realization; there was nothing holding me back from leaving. My parents made it clear where they stood, as had Regulus. Sirius had gone, and James had invited me to visit. I could leave, and visit with them for a few days until I figured out a living situation. Why would I stay where I was? I mumbled out an excuse to leave before heading upstairs to pack my trunk. With luck I’d be gone before my mother’s decided visit to the Black family. 

~~~

My leaving had not been a dramatic experience, mainly due to the fact that I’d left while my parents were asleep. I floo-ed over to the Potter household to meet Sirius, who sat in front of the fire waiting for me. 

“Took you long enough.” 

“Someone left me to fend for myself,” I glared at the boy. “And without a word of warning either.” 

“I’m sorry,” he seemed genuinely apologetic, “I just couldn’t do it anymore.” I sat down next to the long haired male, and breathed a sigh of relief, letting my head fall back. 

“Me either,” I started laughing. “You should’ve listened to my mother.” I turned my head to face him, still resting it on the couch. “She just felt  _ sooo _ bad for your family. She wanted to go visit so I could charm Reg.” 

Sirius threw his arm around my shoulder, lowering his voice dramatically. “Then welcome, Miss [Last Name], to the wonderful world of runaway purebloods.” We both paused after the statement, the realization of what I’d done hitting me. 

“Merlin, I've left.” I buried my face in my hands. Sirius tightened his arm around my shoulder, and ruffled my hair. I folded my hands in my lap, putting my head on Sirius’s shoulder and staring into the slowly dying fire. 

“I know it doesn’t mean much now, but I’m proud of you.” I said nothing, closing my eyes. 

When I lifted my head the sky was just beginning to lighten, and for a moment I didn’t know where I was. Looking to my left I saw Sirius, and everything hit me. I had run away. All of my stuff was in the trunk that still sat next to the fireplace, I was prepared to never return. Sirius shifted in his place, and I was reminded of our close proximity. His arm had lowered, wrapping around my waist, and his head rested on the back of the couch in a position I was certain would leave a crick in his neck. I was still sad, worried, a bit mad, but most of all I was tired. I looked at the clock; it wasn’t yet six. I laid my head back onto Sirius’s shoulder, curling into him and closing my eyes. I was certain when I had enough functionality all the other emotions would well up, but I would deal with everything else later. For now I’d go back to sleep, reveling in the warmth of the boy beside me. 


	7. Scorpius Malfoy

Scorpius knew he was in the wrong timeline. Multiple things had made that very apparent. First of which had been Umbridge, when she’d pulled him out of the lake. Second had been the information she had conveyed, having informed him that Harry Potter had been long dead, confused as to why he was asking for his son. Third had been his sudden popularity, most of the school celebrating him as the Scorpion King. But fourth, and one of the ones he least objected to, was the fact that in this timeline you were his girlfriend. That he had found out shortly after the Umbridge-lake incident. 

He saw you waiting in the entrance of the school for him. “Scorpius,” you’d greeted him warmly. 

“Oh, thank Merlin. [Name], I don’t understand what’s-” 

“Scorpius you’re freezing.” You waved your wand, drying him off. “Come on love, we’ll go to the common room, get you warmed up a bit.” You had grabbed his hand, kissing him on the cheek before dragging him off towards the Slytherin common room. A couple of people he recognized greeted him in the halls, all of them with respect. 

“Why-” he seemed to have lost some of his speech.    
  


“You don’t really think I would just leave you, do you?” He did actually, last he’d spoken to you in his timeline you’d gotten mad at him, and the real you had been ignoring him ever since. He thought he heard a scream as you two were about to cross into the common room. Looking to you to see if you’d heard it, he only momentarily saw a wrinkle in your brow, before your features smoothed over once more.

“Well, you aren’t obligated to wait for me.” 

You sat him down on a couch in front of the fire in the Slytherin common room, grabbing a large blanket and setting it on top of both of you as you curled into his side. “Of course I am.” He hesitantly put his arm around you, not knowing how the two of you usually acted within this timeline. After awhile you slowly started to doze, and he risked a peck to your forehead before falling asleep himself. 

~~~

Scorpius awoke with a jolt. In the night you two must have moved, as now you were laying beside him on the couch, your head on his chest. For a second he let himself imagine lightly what it would be like in his real timeline, if you two were to actually act like this. But that just reminded him of how the real Albus didn’t exist here, and in the real world you were mad at him. 

“Are you alright?” You asked tiredly. 

He thought on what to say for a moment, if he worded it properly he could get advice from you on how to resolve things with you. “I had a dream, but it was in an alternate reality.” He lowered his voice, “Harry Potter was still alive, and, and he had a son. The three of us were friends, but at the beginning of the year Albus, er, his son and I had done something that was, well, admittedly stupid. You got mad at me and refused to talk to me. How would I fix it?” 

“I don’t know, I don’t exactly know why this ‘me’ was mad at you. It might just be fixed with time, or maybe a better conversation.” You paused for a second, “I know if this version was like me, she might just be worried about the ‘admittedly stupid’ thing.” 

Scorpius made a mental note of these things, internally thankful you hadn't commented on how odd the dream had been. He looked around the room, noting it was empty before quietly remarking, “you know, it wasn’t a bad world, the one in which Harry Potter was still alive.” 

He definitely had heard a scream this time, and he definitely saw your brow furrow. “You of all people should never say that.” He didn’t quite know what you meant, but before he could ask others began to enter the common room. 

~~~ 

He was never able to get information from you as to what had happened to Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory, or why exactly he’d heard screaming. When it came to the former you’d always look around and tell him the same thing, that he shouldn’t ask. As to the second, it wasn’t necessarily that you wouldn’t tell him, he just hadn’t asked. Whenever you heard a scream you’d make the same face, a face he remembered the normal you making when you felt bad or scared for someone else. He’d taken to squeezing your hand after the screams, rubbing small circles into the back of it. You’d seemed surprised by this new action, but it seemed to do its job nonetheless. 

Since you had been unwilling, he’d taken instead to asking his friends when he saw them. However, they didn’t take him seriously, and occasionally would ask whether their king had turned into a stupid mudblood overnight.

“Do we need to hang you up with the mudbloods?” Karl had asked. 

“Hanged with the mudbloods?” Scorpius looked at you, silently questioning what Karl was talking about, but you wouldn’t meet his eyes, looking sick to your stomach. 

“Of course, your idea wasn’t it?” 

~~~

The third day in the timeline, Scorpius had been called to meet with Umbridge. He’d looked to you before leaving, but you’d said nothing to him, continuing the essay in front of you. After he had left, you stood, wanting to pay Snape a visit. 

“There’s something wrong with Scorpius.” 

Snape looked up, unimpressed, “[Last Name] I assure you, I’m not here to listen to your domestic issues.” 

“No, really. He told me of this dream where Harry Potter hadn’t died. He said it seemed to be a good world.” 

“So now we’re turning to divination.” 

“He seemed shocked that I was his girlfriend, and, and he didn’t remember he had suggested we torture the muggleborns. It’s like he’s been replaced.” You were still trying to get through to Snape, but he seemed to not be having any of that today. 

“I’m afraid, [Last Name] that you have merely decided to date a halfwit. I’m sorry you had to find out so late, but I did warn you a year ago.” 

You gave up on trying to convince him that something was wrong, instead asking quietly, “do you think a timeline with Potter alive would have been better?” 

“I don’t think that any of us can or should afford time to think about it.” He had continued to look down at whatever he had been working on before you had joined him. “Oh and [Name], don’t let this ‘new Scorpius’ cloud your thinking. He's still Malfoy." You'd nodded at his advice. "Anything else?" 

"No," you fought the urge to try and argue with him to get him to care. 

"Good." On your way out Snape had called behind you, "remember your essay on wolfsbane. I won't be so lenient if I find you have been too absorbed in dealings with your boyfriend to finish it." 

~~~

At the same time however, Scorpius had been dealing with Polly Chapman, who had found him shortly after his meeting with Umbridge. 

“I don’t think [Name] is planning to attend the Blood Ball,” Polly had passively commented. “Seems a bit much for her. She’s always been a bit fragile hasn’t she.” 

“What do you mean by that?” Scorpius had asked, trying not to sound too invested. 

“She never joins in when we go to the dungeons. In fact, it seems whenever you even mention finding another mudblood, she goes pale.” The boy wasn’t surprised. In his timeline you’d been unable to hurt anything. Even the transfiguration of worms worried you. 

“So?” 

“So, I think there are people with more potential who may be,” Polly looked like she didn’t know how to word it, “better suited for someone of your caliber.” Scorpius stared blankly at her for a second. “Look, I’m just saying if you ever want to spend time with someone who’s interests align more with your own, I’m free. Oh, she’s coming this way.”    
  
Polly’s attention had been drawn to someone behind him, and Scorpius was relieved to find it was you. He wrapped his arm around your shorter form, looking over your head at Polly trying to silently tell her to go away. She took the hint, turning around as the blonde turned his attention to you. 

“What was that?” 

“Don’t worry about it.” He leaned down, kissing you on the nose, noting how you cutely scrunched it afterwards. He had begun to wonder though, if you seemingly disapproved of all that he did, how did you two end up dating to begin with?

~~~

“I need to go to the library.” Scorpius had said abruptly, a few days later. 

“The library?” You looked shocked. “Why? Are you alright?” 

“I’m fine, I just need to brush up on some history.” 

You had followed Scorpius to the library, where he’d begun looking through the history books like a madman. He hadn’t even noticed someone approaching until you greeted them.    
  
“Craig?” 

“It’s not ready yet. Professor Snape sets so much, I’ve been working as quickly as possible.” Craig seemed to get a little breathless. 

“Craig, breathe.” You instructed, watching as the boy seemed to overwork himself. 

“Working on what exactly?”    
  


“Your potions homework. I know you hate it. Wait, what are you doing with A History of Magic, do you need me to do something else? I’d be happy to.” 

“Craig, calm down.” You instructed again, waving him towards a chair. 

Scorpius just stood there for a second. After Craig had left however, he asked, “did he say Snape?” You nodded, and he ran towards the potions room, not noticing that you had followed after him. 

You’d only just gotten to the room when you heard Snape’s voice. “I taught in his school.” 

“That’s not all you did. You watched the Death Eaters. You advised him.” Scorpius continued on, but Snape sent you a dangerous look. The two continued on, the blonde explaining to Snape what you had before, and Snape dismissing his words. Scorpius looked pleadingly at you for a second, but you were pinned to the spot under the dangerous glare of Severus Snape. 

“[Last Name],” he hissed, and you quickly made your way to his desk, where he spoke quietly under his breath. “I don’t think I need to explain to you the weight of the situation we are currently in. Now, I’m not saying necessarily that this is your fault, but if it is, know that you’ve dug our graves. All of ours.” 

“ _ Oh _ ,” Scorpius seemed to have had a revelation, one entirely unrelated to your past possible-death-threat. “You loved his mother. Harry’s. Lily. You spent years undercover. Without you the war would have been lost, how would I know this if I hadn’t seen the other world.” Snape’s face had lost it’s malice. “Only Dumbledore knew, and when you lost him you were alone. But, I know you were a good man. Harry Potter told his son you were great.” 

“Harry’s dead.” 

“Not in my world. He named his son after you. My best,” he glanced at you for a beat, “one of my best friends. Albus Severus Potter.” 

“[Last Name]?” Snape had looked to you, who shrugged. Scorpius looked confused, noticing a small back and forth between you two, which resulted in Snape sighing. He shot a spell to lock the door, and you opened a hatch in his room. Scorpius couldn’t help but notice how practiced it seemed. 

“Where are we going?” 

“Don’t ask,” you smiled excitedly. “Follow me.” 

~~~

“I want to go too.” Ron, Hermione and Snape had gone silent. “If Hermione’s going, I am too.” 

“No.” Snape had been the one to answer. 

“This is the only chance we will ever get. If I do nothing now, why am I even here?” 

“It’s too dangerous, you’re underage.” Ron had never sounded so serious.

“Say you all go, and it goes entirely wrong. I’m left here alone. Best case scenario nothing happens, and I continue having to live  _ here _ . Worst case scenario, Umbridge finds me, and finds out that I had been part of this group. I end up in the dungeon with the muggle borns. “ 

The three adults looked at eachother, beginning to quietly talk amongst themselves. 

“So, I’ve been meaning to ask. If the me of this timeline was such a horrible person, how did we end up-” 

“Together?” You thought for a second. “I don’t know, although I didn’t really agree with your… ideals, there always was a bit of a kinder side to you. After knowing each other for a few years you just asked. If I could, I’d ask why.” 

“Fine.” Hermione had spoken. “You can go. Now Mister Malfoy, the time turner, please.” She looked excited as he handed it over, and you instinctively took Scorpius’s hand in your own. 

~~~

“We need to go.” You squeezed the hand that was still in yours. “Umbridge is coming.” 

“Professor Snape!” you backed up, dragging the Malfoy boy with you. “Have you heard? We found the traitorous Mudblood Hermione Granger. She was just out here.” 

“That’s fantastic.” 

“With you. Granger was with you, and [Name] [Last], a sympathising blood traitor, and… Scorpius Malfoy, a student I’m becoming increasingly concerned about.” 

Snape smiled, “How long have you suspected?”

“Years. And I should have acted upon it far earlier.” 

You and Snape spoke at once. 

“Depulso!”

“Expecto Patronum.” A doe came from Snape’s wand. “Now, I believe I’m obligated to tell you [Name], you cannot go around banishing your teachers.” You laughed, and casted your own patronus, which flew up beside the doe. “You need to run. We will keep them at bay for as long as we can. Tell Albus Severus I’m proud he carries my name.” 

“Oh, and Scorpius?” He turned to see you still smiling. You took a brisk step towards him, eliminating the space between the two of you before you leaned up, kissing him quickly on the mouth. “You probably have a better chance with your version of me than you think.” You turned back to Snape, “now, make sure you get back to her. And to him.” 

“Will that be all? I believe we’re running out of time.” Snape was impatient, and yet his voice held no malice. “Honestly, if I have to go out listening to you and  _ the Scorpion King _ of all people…” 

You smiled once more, a stark contrast to the darkness that surrounded you two. Seeing that Scorpius had gone, you realized this version of you had finished her job, and you tried to accept it before you were made to. 

~~~

Scorpius hadn’t given any warning before he kissed you. One moment, you’d been working by the Great Lake, completely oblivious to the fact that Scorpius stood beside you, and the next his lips had come forcefully into contact with yours. Only a few seconds later, he had pulled away, and began blabbering on about something or another. 

“... really sorry, I just, well this is going to sound strange. A different you told me that the real you probably still liked me here and…” 

You blinked dumbly a couple of times. “Why aren’t you sitting?” Scorpius nervously sat down beside you, continuing to talk all the while. You set down your homework, and in a moment of genius decided to shut him up the same way he’d greeted you. 

“Oh, we-well, that happened.” He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times silently. 

“Now,” you shuffled closer to him, leaning into his side, the two of you facing the Great Lake. “Would you like to tell me what you’ve apparently been up to all this time?” The boy chuckled nervously, before wrapping his arm around you and beginning again, this time a bit slower. 


	8. Cedric Diggory

His body was cold, and I couldn’t help but feel a strong pang of annoyance at whoever it was screaming in the stands. The Boy Who Lived stood close by, still holding the cup, but not in the victorious manner he’s supposed to be. He gripped it tightly, the same way I did Cedric, and it took me far too long to realize that the screams were mine. Although he was known as being responsible, Cedric had always slept heavily on days off, and I was reminded of the countless times I’d go to wake him. If I tried hard enough, I could convince myself he’d just fallen asleep.

_ I poked the sleeping Hufflepuff on the nose, laughing at how he scrunched his nose a bit without waking. “Come on Cedric,” I poked him repeatedly, but he just tiredly waved my hands away, “time to wake up.”  _

_ “Why,” he groaned, “we’re not doing anything.”  _

_ “You can’t stay in bed all day. You’ve already missed breakfast.”  _

_ “Then why get up now?” He turned onto his stomach, blocking his eyes from the light that filtered through the curtains I had opened. I rolled my eyes, turning to leave, but he instead pulled me to sit beside him. It was only a few minutes before he was asleep again, and I sighed, occupying my time by writing a letter home.  _

I shook my head, returning my attention to the screams in the crowd. Harry was being taken away by Professor Moody in a dazed state, and Fudge and Dumbledore were approaching Amos. But that wasn’t right. I could see Moody’s eye roll over to me, watching me as I stood frozen, and there was something that felt inherently wrong with the entire thing. Dumbledore had told Potter to stay where he was. I made my way to Professor McGonagall. 

“Professor,” her lips were pursed together, and only under her sympathetic gaze was I made aware I was crying. “Professor, Potter was taken by Professor Moody.” Her expression didn’t change, but she nodded in understanding before turning to Professor Dumbledore. I saw some people staring at me sympathetically from the stands, and unable to stand the idea my emotions were being put under scrutiny, I turned on my heel, leaving quickly to go somewhere- anywhere else. 

~~~

I woke at the top of the Astronomy Tower a bit confused. My eyes were dry, and the sun was just starting to rise. I was reminded of what had happened the day before, and I stifled a sob, looking around only once I heard the rustling of someone else’s clothing. 

“[Name]?” The groggy voice of my friend Caitlyn pulled me out of my stupor, and I looked over to see her lying beside me, blond hair spread across the robe she’d bunched up to use as a pillow. “Professor,” she yawned, rubbing her eyes and becoming more alert, “Professor Sprout wanted to see you.” The girl looked me over before looking at the sky. “We can go get something to eat if you’d like, the Great Hall is probably fairly empty.” Although I didn’t think I could eat much, I probably should, and the idea of doing so before the Great Hall was packed with nosy students was a highly appealing offer. “Potter’s in the Hospital Wing,” she said, “and Professor Dumbledore told everyone to leave him alone. You know, not ask him about what happened.” I wasn’t going to approach the boy anyways. 

I wondered if Caitlyn was going to follow me all day. I really just wanted time alone, but I knew dismissing my friend would be unfair. She was worried for me, and anyways, I wasn’t so conceited as to think I was the only one mourning. She watched me closely as I grabbed a piece of toast and some eggs. 

“What?” I raised my eyebrow at her, and she just shook her head. Her boyfriend Josh approached her quietly from behind, dropping his hands onto her shoulders and making her jump in her seat. She turned to kiss him, and I focused on my toast instead. When I looked back, Caitlyn had struck up a conversation with Josh, who smiled sympathetically at me over her shoulder. 

_ “Cedric,” I greeted my boyfriend as he wrapped his arms around me from behind. I turned back to my essay, and as he sat down he leaned his head over my shoulder to see what I was writing.  _

_ I heard from beside me Caitlyn giggle, and looked up as Josh sat beside her, tugging on a lock of her hair. They hadn’t started dating yet, but everyone knew they would.  _

_ “When will they learn?” I resumed writing while eating a piece of toast, and Cedric laughed beside me.  _

_ “It’s not their fault. All good things take time.” He pecked me on the cheek, turning to fill his own plate.  _

_ “Is that your excuse then?” A sly grin grew on my face, and Cedric looked at me in false confusion.  _

_ “I have no clue what you’re implying love,” I turned to face my significant other, and he kissed me.  _

_ “Oh, maybe that it took you a whole year longer to ask me out than you needed to?” My grin grew, and he shook his head good naturedly.  _

_ “Go on, back to your essay.” I looked at the clock and then back to my work. I had enough time to finish this before our first class.  _

“[Name]!” I looked up to see that Caitlyn and Josh were standing to leave. “We’re going back to the common room.” I nodded numbly, watching as they walked away, Caitlyn looking worriedly over her shoulder and Josh reassuring her that I’d be fine. I appreciated what he’d done. Caitlyn probably would have stayed with me the rest of the day out of worry, but I felt Josh understood better. They could spend time together to reminisce and cope, but I needed some time alone. 

“[Name],” the kindly voice of Professor Sprout stopped me as I made to exit the room. “I- I know that things may be difficult right now. Not to intrude, but if you ever need someone to talk to-” I nodded, thanking her quietly. “Oh, Mrs. and Mr. Diggory are still here if you’d like to talk to them. They plan to speak to Potter when he wakes. If you’d like to, I see no issue with you going in to talk to him either. You have just as much of a right to know.” I nodded again before she dismissed me, making my way out to the quidditch pitch, which had already been cleared of the maze from the night before. I stared at  _ the spot _ . The spot the Goblet had taken Potter back to. Memories of my near leap from the stands, how quickly I ran to Cedric, quicker than Dumbledore could, or maybe was willing to, stop me. I turned my back, making my way up to the stands. I sat towards the bottom of the stands, staring out onto the field, and trying to avoid looking back at  _ the spot _ . A sense of deja vu hit me, and I allowed myself to reminisce once again.

_ “Cedric!” I screeched as the boy laughed, diving towards the ground on his broom. I ran to the highest stand on the pitch, watching him intently as he shot back up towards the sky, recklessly flipping and twirling in the air.  _

_ “Come on [Name], you haven’t flown since the beginning of the year!”  _

_ “You’re going to get yourself killed!” He smiled slyly, and I was only just able to stumble back a step before he dived down again, lifting me onto the broom in front of him.  _

_ “Correction: I’m going to get  _ us  _ killed.” I leaned into him as he flew up again, gripping the broom as he tightened his hold around me before doing another flip.  _

“[Name],” I jolted at the soft voice behind me, stiffening as I remembered the voice. I turned, the sight of Cedric’s mother making tears well in my eyes. 

“A-are you and Amos-”

“We’re leaving soon.” She didn’t smile, but she didn’t have to, as I could see the warmth in her eyes. “Harry wanted to talk to you.” I nodded, feeling a sob begin to rise in my throat. “Take care of yourself dear. Cedric love- loved you.” I swallowed deeply, the fact that she had almost said ‘loves’ not escaping me. 

“You as well.” Neither of us said anything more, but she handed me a large parcel before leaving. 

I opened it slowly, almost afraid of what was inside. The first thing I pulled out was a scarf, the yellow and black stripes and familiar smell making me smile, albeit shakily. She had left me a robe as well, one which I spread over my legs even though the weather was far too warm. Lastly, there was a smaller parcel, one that was nicely wrapped, and I finally broke down at the sight of the pretty wrapping paper. Our anniversary was supposed to be in a few days. 

_ “Come on, let’s find the carriage they settled in,” I dragged my bag behind me as Caitlyn followed. We both looked through all the windows, although I stopped when I saw the familiar faces of some of our friends. We entered the compartment, placing our belongings overhead before she took a seat next to Josh, leaving me to sit next to Cedric. He had draped his arm around my side, continuing the conversation with the rest of our friends.  _

_ “[Name],” I’d found that the rest of the carriage had gotten into another conversation, and I turned to look at Cedric, noticing that he sat very close to me. “I need you to promise me you’ll write. And visit.” The boy had begun to pout. “Unlike last year.”  _

_ “I both visited and wrote last year,” I didn’t call him out for his proximity, instead leaning towards him until we were touching.  _

_ “Not enough.” I almost laughed at his childish pout. He rested against me, wrapping his other arm around me as well. “There’s this nice muggle cafe in town by where I live. We should go.”  _

_ “Sounds like you’re proposing a date.” I looked at him with fake suspicion, but he merely raised an eyebrow at me.  _

_ “And if I was?”  _

_ “I’d say yes.” I looked out the window, watching as trees and fields whipped by. _

I snapped out of it, quickly and carefully folding the scarf and the robe again, placing them in the box over the smaller parcel. Maybe I’d open it on our anniversary. I jumped from the stands, casting a spell to slow my fall, something I had perfected over years of sitting in the pitch during games and practices. I hastily walked back to the school, entering through the large wooden doors and ignoring the stares of the students I passed. I slowed as I left the more populated areas of the school. 

“I- I’m sorry.” I turned to see Harry Potter, who was standing awkwardly, fiddling with his glasses. 

“It’s not your fault.” I wanted to say something more, maybe reassure him more or ask him how he was holding up, but it seemed neither of us were going to say much. 

“He was- good.” Harry seemed to regret what he’d said soon after saying it, and I could admit his phrasing could use some work. “He helped me through the maze even though we were competing, and he… he won.” 

I tried to give the boy a warm smile, “really Harry. It’s not your fault. No one should blame you, so you should try to stop blaming yourself.”

~~~

The next day was the end of term feast, although it was a somber occasion given Cedric’s passing. Through Professor Dumbledore’s speech I tried not to cry, failing as some tears dripped down my face. I looked to see that Caitlyn and Josh were both trying to stifle tears as well, as were other friends and classmates. The tone of Professor Dumbledore’s speech changed however, as he began to explain the reasoning for Cedric’s death. I found myself staring at him as he explained that Voldemort was alive once more, and while chaos broke through the hall, I clenched my fist at my side. Caitlyn needn’t worry about me anymore, I wasn’t going to waste all my time wallowing. A noseless bastard had killed my boyfriend, and I’d be perfectly happy to help ensure he didn’t kill anyone else. 


	9. Charlie Weasley

I sighed as a figure obstructed my view of the sky. I squinted up towards an impishly grinning Charlie Weasley. 

“Quidditch is over?” 

He nodded cheerfully. “Time to get up.” He offered me his hand, “we have better things to do now than birdwatching.” I glared at him playfully. 

Charlie, dragon fanatic and seeker extraordinaire, was more fond of going out, moving around, and adventuring, seemingly with disregard to danger. He didn’t understand the appeal of normal, non-magical birds, or why anyone would just sit watching them. While I enjoyed going on adventures into the Forbidden Forest with him, I was perfectly happy to sit and read about the creatures we shared an interest in, or spend my time staring at the birds in the sky, a hobby passed from my ornithologically inclined father. 

I took the Weasley boy’s calloused hand, letting him pull me up from my position on the grass. The feeling of his hand in mine didn’t escape me, nor did the disappointment when he let go. 

“We have about two hours. I’m scheduled to patrol after that.” We walked into the forest side by side, at first following the path, then deviating upon finding something of interest. 

When something caught Charlie or my interest, our concepts of time usually flew somewhat out the window. That day was no different, as I found myself sprinting to the Great Hall, Charlie only a few steps behind me. When I caught sight of Alyssa, my patrolling partner, I slowed down, breathing heavily. Charlie slowed as well, smirking at me and patting my back as I put my hands on my knees, bending forward as I continued to catch my breath. 

“Shut up,” I said, standing straight. Alyssa was looking between the two of us, smiling in amusement. “You too,” I turned to her. 

“You ready?” She asked and I nodded, waving a quick farewell to the freckled boy as he turned to the Gryffindor common room and we turned to the other direction. After he was out of earshot she turned to me, her voice teasing. “Hmm, so you disappear to the woods with Charlie Weasley alone, only to return late, disheveled,and out of breath. And then you tell me there’s nothing going on?” 

“There isn’t,” I deadpanned at her. “We lost track of time.” 

She rolled her eyes, “how did either of you become prefects?” I shrugged. Alyssa was used to me being a few minutes late, and although she’d give me a hard time for it, she never seriously cared. 

~~~

The next day, Charlie didn’t complain as he dropped down beside me on the grass. He was considerate enough to sit in a way that left a shadow over my face without obstructing my view of the sky. He pulled out a book and began reading quietly, taking notes as I continued to study the sky. Alyssa had found our arrangement funny since she’d learned of it, although I hadn’t known why. 

_ “You two are so cute,” she’d snickered, and I couldn’t tell what the connotation of that ‘cute’ had been.  _

_ “What? Why?” _

_ “You’ve already come to a compromise about how to spend your time so you can spend more time together and have a fair share of your favorite activity. Even though neither of you even really dislike the other’s.”  _

_ “Why wouldn’t we have?” I was genuinely confused, but she just shook her head.  _

_ “You both have like, verbally agreed on your compromise and you follow it like clockwork. It’s a good dynamic. Not to mention, I’ve seen you two lying next to each other under a tree. It’s romantic.”  _

_ “Aren’t all friends supposed to have good dynamics?” I asked, “and if you find lying under trees romantic, why do you hate camping?”  _

_ “Just accept that it’s cute, okay?” She’d left the topic alone for the rest of the night, but didn’t forget to teasingly bring it up in patrols after seeing us.  _

Charlie waved a hand in front of my face. “Hello? Anyone home?” He knocked lightly on the side of my head, and I lazily swatted his hand away. “There’s a quidditch practice tomorrow, can I expect your attendance?” I glanced at what he’d been reading: a book about dragons, of course.

“Sure,” I turned back to the sky, looking every so often to the boy, who had become immersed in his reading. I wondered if we did look cute, and if maybe someday Charlie would see it. 

~~~

“Stop fidgeting,” I complained, looking towards the sun and the face of an antsy redhead, who had once again sat in a way that protected my vision from the bright light. During the last quidditch match he’d broken his arm, and while he was well dosed with Skele-Gro Bill had instructed me to keep the adventurous boy from the Forbidden Forest for a few days. This however, had proven to be nearly as impossible as keeping a mermaid from water. 

“Come on [Name], we don’t have to tell Bill.” He was giving me puppy eyes, but I just looked at him blankly. “I think I saw a hippogriff.” I didn’t believe him, and I was certain he could tell. 

I pulled out my wand, conjuring small, blue birds to fly around us. I laid back down, resting my head on the boy’s lap and watching as the birds flew around. 

“You can’t  _ really _ be satisfied with this.” Charlie poked at one of the birds, which pecked his finger. I let out a small giggle, and he poked me in the side. 

“I’m perfectly content,” I replied, turning back to the birds. “Now either watch with me or go back to your book.” He sighed before conjuring me some more birds and turning to his dragon studies. I noted his birds were orange. They flew up to join my own, orange complementing blue. I looked to see if Charlie had noticed, but he was engrossed in his book. Staring into the sky I didn’t notice him lower his book to watch as well. 

~~~

I hadn’t seen Charlie all day, and I was a bit embarrassed to say I had taken to looking for him to the point where I’d bumped into a few walls. By the time my patrol with Alyssa arrived I became certain I wouldn’t see him, and I gave up in favor of conversation with her. 

After only thirty minutes I found we were approaching the marble staircase, and the large oak doors that led outside were in sight. “Hey Alyssa?” 

She grinned knowingly, “oh, you didn’t know? I was told you’re off the hook for today. I wanted to protest, but you know, can’t ignore a direct order from the Head Boy himself.” I knew she was referring to Bill, but he wasn’t the type to use his power to show unnecessary favoritism. 

“But-” 

“Look, I don’t know all the details, but I can tell you that there’s someone you should ask who does.” 

She pushed me towards the staircase, and I let out a squeak while trying not to trip. “Hey!” 

“Alyssa, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t kill her.” 

“Sorry Weasley, I was given very few instructions. Maybe next time abduct your girlfriend on your own.” I turned to see that lo and behold, Charlie Weasley was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, leaning on the banister. 

He grinned up at me, and my heart stopped. “Well?” he tilted his head towards the door, “you ready to go?” 

I looked back to my partner, who rolled her eyes good naturedly. “Go on, shoo.” I descended quickly, and upon reaching the ground I looked back up to thank Alyssa, only to find she had already left. 

“Come on,” Charlie was shifting from foot to foot, and extended an arm to me. I hooked mine in his, and looked up at him. 

“Where are we going?” 

He was still smiling, “it’s a surprise.” I was led outside where the sun had almost fully set, recognizing that he was following our usual path into the Forbidden Forest. 

“Charlie, if you’re taking me to the forest to murder me I  _ will _ come back to haunt you.” 

“Of course not,” he stared ahead, leading me through the familiar trails of the forest. As the redhead veered off the trails, my grip lowered to his hand, and I tried to ignore the small squeeze he gave me as he intertwined our fingers. With his other hand he lit his wand, and we began to walk more single-file, avoiding trees and ditches. After a while I looked around, noticing that I had no idea where we were. 

“Do you know where we are? Because I don’t.” He didn’t respond, but it seemed I wouldn’t be held in suspense much longer, as he stopped in a large clearing. “What are we-” I stopped talking upon seeing a large grey hippogriff staring at us, and I stepped forwards to stand beside him, neither of us blinking. 

“You know the drill, right?” He whispered, slowly bowing. 

“You’re insane.” I griped, mirroring his action. Neither of us tried to talk again after that, but I knew he knew I was lying. My father had always told me of the beautiful creatures, and I’d wanted to see one since I was young. It seemed like forever before the hippogriff bowed back, and began to walk towards us. I stood up, studying it’s dark coat and trying to memorize details to relay to my father. I was shocked when the hippogriff nudged Charlie fondly, turning to me curiously. I was frozen, but hesitantly raised my arm to gently pet the animal, relieved when it didn’t move it’s sharp talons. 

Charlie seemed to have fewer inhibitions than I, as he quickly climbed onto the hippogriff’s back, holding out his hand for me to do the same. “You’ll be fine.” His grin was entirely confident, and I felt my own expression melt from worry into a smile. 

“You’ve gone mad.” I grabbed his hand anyways, using it to set myself in front of him on the hippogriff. I gripped the feathers as the creature spread its wings, and I jolted as it took off. Charlie wrapped his arms around my waist, and I tried not to blush as he set his head on my shoulder. The castle was beautiful at night, and I marveled at the sight as the hippogriff rose above the trees. “How did you get Bill to agree to let me off?” 

“Mum forced him when she heard about it.” I turned as best I could to look at the redhead, whose face was a bit red. 

“Well, thank you.” I hesitated before kissing him on the cheek, my stomach flipping as he turned his head, pressing his lips to mine. The hippogriff dived close to the Astronomy Tower, and I pulled back, letting out an excited laugh as I turned back, swearing I could see someone waving from the top of the tower. 


	10. Hermione Granger || Study Buddy

My eyes were glazing over as I stared at my Transfiguration work. Who even needs to know about the theory of the subject? It’s literal magic, can’t execution be enough? Apparently not, as McGonagall had informed us of an upcoming test, and my enthusiastic parents wouldn’t be happy with anything under an ‘Exceeds Expectations’, although my mother hadn’t known what that was until my father told her. I shut my book, resting my head atop it to look around at the rest of the library. Granger sat a table away, and I must have made noise when I closed my book, as she was looking directly at me. I grinned, a bit embarrassed, and tried to non-verbally apologize for disrupting her, but she merely looked back to her book. My grin faltered before I too returned to my work. 

“Are you studying for Transfiguration?” The girl had made her way to my table, and was leaning over so I could hear her quiet whispering. Looking at her I noticed that she had actually become quite pretty, and I vaguely remembered seeing her at the Yule Ball the year prior. 

“Y-yeah,” I turned back to my book, which had been on the same page since I first got distracted, “well, kind of.” 

She sat across from me with a small smile, “would you like to revise?” 

‘Revise’ was a strong term. I likely hadn’t absorbed enough to properly go over any of it with the intelligent witch, but I wasn’t going to turn her down so I just nodded mutely as she turned to the page I was on. 

“Firstly, do you remember the motions and incantations for all the spells?” I nodded again, but she likely didn’t find me convincing as she raised an eyebrow. “We can go over that first.” 

After about an hour I’d noticed the sun had begun to go down, and I pointed it out to the girl who had little reaction besides wondering if the library would close soon. 

“Really Hermione,” I looked back at the setting sun, “we really should go to dinner.” 

“Right,” she closed her book, “we can continue there.” 

I wasn’t going to mention we weren’t in the same house; that never served as a barrier for friends to sit together. I was however, willing to comment on her copious studying habits. I had only been at it for a few hours and I already was in dire need of a break. 

“Shouldn’t we just take a break?” 

She looked at me a bit incredulously before shaking her head. “I’ve been so busy with my other classes that I just got around to reviewing for this one. There’s only a week until the exam.” 

I shrugged, “same, I just think you should take a break. We achieved a lot in our time.”

“We still have to review origins and practice executing the spells.” She was looking through her notes, and although the origins of the spells seemed familiar to me, I knew it likely wasn’t enough if I was asked about them. 

“We can start early tomorrow,” I suggested, “after breakfast. I’ll even get the materials and find a room for proper practice.” She had looked a bit wary at first, but slowly began to nod as I suggested obtaining practice materials. When we reached the hall I noticed her two friends, Potter and Weasley, were sitting down to eat already. “Why didn’t you study with them?” 

She looked over dismissively, “they don’t get anything done.”

The two had begun to talk excitedly, spilling a bit of food, and I wrinkled my nose at their carelessness. “I see.” 

~~~

“Do you have the goblets?” Hermione’s face was already in her study material, although she’d only just entered the room I’d instructed her to in an owl. I gestured with my wand before multiplying the goblet I had. “Good, we’ll start with vanishing.” 

She, of course, was able to perfectly vanish her goblet on the first try, while it took me three tries before the entirety of it disappeared. While I got more practice in, she had switched to reviewing the technical information and origins of the spell. I found that I quite enjoyed her voice, and while her long study hours were already taking a toll on me, I enjoyed spending time with her. 

“Here,” she grabbed my hand and moved it, instructing me to say the incantation. “Your wrist is too stiff.” I nodded, hoping I hadn’t turned pink at the close contact. 

I busied myself with the spell, but began glancing at the people passing the classroom after five successful attempts. “Do you want to get lunch?” 

“We have more to do.” She looked up blankly, and I nodded. 

“We can try conjuring the books in my room,” I suggested, “but after that we should take a break.” 

~~~

There were still three days until the exam, although by the way Hermione was acting you wouldn’t have been able to tell. I was almost shocked by her lack of composure, as I’d assumed she was prepared for most tests years before they were assigned. She had explained that spending time with Harry and Ron had ruined her study schedule, and while I wondered if that was  _ actually _ the case, I just nodded. 

“We’ve done everything,” I noted, looking at our list of topics. I stifled a yawn. We’d been working since sunrise, and I’d guess it was around noon.

“I don’t know,” the girl sighed, “I feel like I’m forgetting something.” 

I knew she wasn’t, but telling her she was paranoid was definitely not the way to go. “How about this, we go to Hogsmeade and I quiz you.” She agreed, and I was happy to see her willing to take a break. 

True to my word, I did quiz her throughout the trip, and while she had no trouble recalling everything I asked her (including things that likely weren’t going to be on the test), I was becoming reassured in my own knowledge of the subject. 

“Hi ‘mione.” Potter and Weasley stood in front of Honeydukes, Weasley having been the one to speak, I noted with food in his mouth. He swallowed his bite quickly at Hermione’s disdainful look. “Why are you here? You said you weren’t coming.” Potter seemed to be jabbing Weasley in the back, although when I looked to Hermione she didn’t notice. 

“[Name] and I were reviewing,” she pointed at me and I waved. “Something I think you two should be doing as well.” 

The boys seemed to wrinkle their noses, and Potter said a quick “no thank you”. 

She shook her head, and I looked back at the list of topics in front of me. “We’re almost done if you want to…” 

She shook her head, “we should look through Hogwarts a History to see if there are any more notable usages.” 

~~~

I smiled at Hermione as she entered the Transfiguration classroom. She looked a bit nervous, although I knew she’d do well. She was a bright witch, and although she didn’t think she did, she knew the material almost by heart. Her smile back was a bit wobbly, but she turned to the two boys in front of her when they looked back. Weasley stared at me and Potter smacked the back of his head, but I had little time to wonder about it as Professor McGonagall had entered the room. 

A test was flown in front of me, and with one last glance at a mildly fidgeting Hermione I got to work. Immediately I was happy to find that I knew most of the material, and looking at my study partner I tried to tell from the back of her head if she too looked relieved. 

About a half an hour later I looked up, adding a final period oto the end of my last response. When I went to turn in my responses I saw Hermione herself was almost done, and upon being dismissed I waited in the hall for her to finish her own test. 

“How do you think you did?” 

“I’m fairly confident.” I smile warmly at the girl. “What about you?” 

“I don’t know… The question about goblin’s relations to the vanishing spell confused me. And there was one about the color changing spell…” She seemed to get more and more nervous, and I hesitantly wrapped an arm over her shoulder. 

“Come on, let’s go to the library. We can start on the potions essay together.” 

~~~

Hermione exited the room quickly, running up to me with her paper. On it, an expected ‘Exceeds Expectations’ was written in red, and I stifled a grin. 

“What did you get?” I held up my matching ‘Exceeds Expectations’, and the smile I was suppressing rose to my face. 

“See? I knew you’d do well.” I looked up as Weasley and Potter exited the class, only to be surprised when Potter pushed Weasley in the other direction. 

“It’s almost noon,” she noted, and we both began walking towards the Great Hall. I wasn’t blind to her close proximity; our arms brushed from how close we were. I noticed how pretty the wide smile on her face was, and I was starting to wonder about Potter and Weasley’s odd behaviour. When she asked if I’d study with her more often I saw the bit of nervousness and a fear of rejection that was eased by my obvious ‘yes’. Warmth spread over me and I wondered if maybe I’d get more information out of Weasley alone. I had time though. Studying or not, I’d be spending more time with the brilliant witch, and I had no complaints. 


	11. Sirius Black

**Request from @HarryPotterGeekGirl11 on Quotev**

**Prompt: Ravenclaw who hates Sirius Black for the way he treats women, but that all changes one night.**

“He’s staring at you again,” I didn’t have to ask who my friend beside me was talking about. It had been the same ‘he’ for the last few months, and I had always ignored the stares. It had seemed that Sirius Black, notorious around Hogwarts for his charm and cunning (along with his friend Potter of course), had taken a liking to me. He wasn’t even subtle about it, and when I looked over at him with a sneer he grinned back charmingly. I looked away, my gaze falling instead to a group of girls whispering and staring at him at the other end of the Gryffindor table.

“Come on Mac,” I stood from my place, having finished my food, “we still have work to finish.” 

“ _We?_ ” She grumbled under her breath but followed me anyway. “You know, it would be _kind of_ cute if you guys got together.” I stared at her blankly as she lifted her hands defensively. “I’m not saying you will, it’s just, he’s not really that bad a-” 

I shook my head, “not happening.” 

“Alright,” she let it go, but I knew Mackenzie well enough to know she stood by her words. Heading back to the common room we both were greeted with the occasional smile and wave, stopping to answer the riddle. 

“[Name], Mac!” An out of breath quidditch captain approached us. “Practice has been moved up today. _Apparently_ the Gryffindors scheduled the pitch for our usual time.” We both nodded, excusing ourselves to grab our belongings. 

~~~

Hogwarts was such a beautiful place, and something about being out on a broom seemed to accent that. I’d tried to capture the beauty for my mother, a muggle, but it seemed anything I created just fell flat. Nothing could fully show how I really felt about the place, and I pondered the fact as I lazily cooled off with some slow loops around the quidditch pitch. 

“Come on [Name],” Mackenzie flew beside you, slowly lowering towards the ground. “Wouldn’t you prefer to avoid Black?” 

She had a point, but before I could respond I heard a voice behind me. “Talking about me?” I gripped the handle of my broom tighter, looking to the stands knowing that the boy wasn’t a quidditch player. 

“Black,” I nodded to him, a small sneer making its way to my face. “Too busy nurturing your overinflated ego to actually _play_ I see.” 

“Nah, I’m just admiring the beauty of the game.” He looked me up and down, and my sneer hardened. “And the players, of course.” I scoffed, feeling Mackenzie’s gaze volleying between the two of us although I didn’t look over at her, unwilling to break the glare first. What did break my eye contact was the arrival of some screeching girls, and I quickly flew back to the ground, Mackenzie touching down a second before I. She said nothing, but she didn’t have to, I could tell by her smile what she was thinking. 

“Not a word.” I watched her closely as she pantomimed zipping her lips. 

~~~

“Hey [Name]!” I recognized the voice from down the hall, ignoring the group behind me. Some of my friends smirked, and I heard them whispering, although I ignored it. “[Name]!” The person called again, and I could see out of my peripheral that other people were beginning to look over. 

“You gonna answer?” I was jabbed in the side by Mackenzie, who I gave a withering look. It seemed I didn’t even have to turn around as the boy quickly caught up to my group, draping an arm around my shoulder. 

“[Name], lovely to see you here.” I shrugged his arm off my shoulder. “You see, I was wondering if you’d do me the honor of allowing me to accompany you to Hogsmeade this weekend.” I scoffed. 

“As I recall, didn’t you ask Marlene the same thing last weekend?” My face fell into a disgusted frown at his lack of an answer, and I quickly walked towards the Ravenclaw table, catching up with my friends who had managed to distance themselves from Sirius and I a few paces. It didn’t matter how he’d ask me out or flirt, it would never have an effect. I knew the type of person he was, and Merlin I was _not_ going to get involved in his game. 

“A bunch of people were watching you.” I couldn’t decipher Mackenzie’s expression, but looking around at the rest of the Great Hall I could see some eyes still trained on Sirius or me. It wasn’t surprising, over our years at Hogwarts I’d grown notorious for turning him down, and he, aside from his pranking, had become quite well known for persisting in asking me out. Except for some hiatuses to mess around with other poor girls. 

~~~

I glared at the so-called Marauders from my place beside the Black Lake. They were causing trouble as usual, I noticed their victim at the moment was Snape. While I wasn’t fond of the black haired boy, I was certainly less tolerant of the arrogant boys harassing him, and it was with an almost smug satisfaction that I saw Severus hex James back. 

“Hey [Name]?” My group of friends surrounding me seemed to have quieted a bit upon noticing I had become less active in the conversation. “Are you alright?” I nodded quickly before rubbing my eyes, not sparing a glance back at the Marauders. 

“Anyways, I heard there was going to be a party after the Quidditch Cup.” The Cup was almost a month away, and I was surprised that news of a party was getting out so quickly. “Yeah,” the girl nodded, “all of the houses are invited, but I haven’t heard where it is yet.” 

“All the houses?” Mackenzie looked skeptical, and I had to admit the idea of having groups from different houses at the same party seemed almost certain to start conflict, especially after such a highly anticipated competition. 

“Some inter-house friends put it on, they’re trying to organize everything now.” 

“I’m surprised we didn’t hear about it,” Mackenzie looked at me and I shrugged. 

“Well,” the girl rubbed the back of her neck a bit embarrassed, “no details are really set in stone, but I was clued in by Hufflepuff’s seeker. When they’re more organized I’m sure everyone will know.” 

~~~

She had been right, details about the party had been confirmed by the organizing group, and invitations were found in all of the dorms two weeks before the party was set to happen. 

“Come to the left corridor on the seventh floor. Stand across from the tapestry and wait for a door to appear.” 

“Sounds a bit odd doesn’t it?” Mackenzie looked over my shoulder as I read it aloud. 

“We’re in a magical school.” We were joined by a group of fifth years in our friend group, and I merely shrugged as we left the common room. I vaguely wondered if I’d hear anything from Black, however it seemed I wouldn’t be kept in suspense long as he nudged me in the back first period during Potions. 

“Hey [Name],” I didn’t turn around, ignoring him as he nudged me once more. “Hey-” 

“ _Mister Black_.” The snickers coming from around the room told me the boy’s expression was likely amusing, but I didn’t turn around, focusing instead on the aggravated Professor standing in front of the class. “If you have something to say to Miss. [Last Name], might I request you discuss it after class so the rest of us can enjoy a lesson without distraction.” A satisfied smirk made its way to my face, and for what seemed to be the first time, the loud boy was rendered speechless. 

It seemed however, that although Professor Slughorn had managed to silence him in class, the persistent male had taken his advice to heart, approaching me after the lesson. “Oi, [Name], have you heard about the party?” I gave him a _‘really?’_ look, taking the invitation out of my bag. “Good.” He threw an arm around me, leaning some of his weight on my shorter figure. “See, I was wondering if you’d like to attend with me.” 

“Not in a million years.” My voice was flat but I sent a sickly sweet smile his way. He seemed to look a bit discouraged, but I disregarded it. The only reason he was sad was because I wasn’t inflating his ego. I shrugged his arm off my shoulder, turning to walk down a different corridor.

~~~

“It’s supposed to be here, right?” Mackenzie and I stared at the blank wall, waiting for any indication that there was a party on the other side. 

“It’s fairly simple,” Black, of course. “You see, you stand in front of the door wishing for what you need and then,” he paused as a door appeared, “a door appears that leads you there.” 

Remus stood behind him, and he elaborated. “Of course, it doesn’t allow you to leave the grounds, but if you need a classroom or a party area, it will appear as one.” 

Mackenzie and I nodded, as the four of us entered the room, surprised to see the large yellow banners that signified the Hufflepuff’s victory. Ravenclaw had been far too behind in points this year to score a proper win, and I was happy to see that the house with the least rivalries had won, seeing as it decreased the chance of the party becoming violent. I tugged at my outfit as Mackenzie led me to a table of food and drink, looking around for people we knew, as we were greeted occasionally by other students. 

As the hours passed it seemed the party became more excited, and I hoped someone had the foresight to make the magical room soundproof. I had lost the group of friends I’d previously been dancing with, sitting down at a table for a short break. The sound of a chair scraping against the floor brought my attention to the person beside me. Sirius Black, of course. I rolled my eyes, considering leaving, but found that the comfortable chair was too good a luxury to give up in such a busy room (although duplicating one couldn’t be hard). 

“Run out of other people to harass?” 

“I don’t get why you hate me [Name].” I almost jolted at how defeated his voice sounded. 

“Are you joking? You treat people terribly. I know how many girls you’ve toyed with then just _left_ with no indication as to why. I’ve seen the way you and Potter treat Snape.” 

“That’s it?”

“See? Now you’re tri-” 

“[Name] how many people have you actually seen me flirt with? How many people have you actually _seen me_ snogging with your own two eyes?” 

I thought it over, suddenly feeling a bit of dread at the answer. Fourth year had been the last time I’d seen him snogging a girl… Two years ago. 

He looked at my expression and nodded, seemingly satisfied. “I don’t know what people have been telling you, or what you’ve chosen to believe. But I’m not as terrible as you seem to think.” He stood and walked away, and I sat pondering his statement. 

Mackenzie approached me soon after, and I was reminded of something she’d said before. “Hey Mac,” I tried to think of how to word it, only to come up empty. “You said a while ago something about Black, but I think I interrupted you… What was it?” 

She shrugged, “he’s not as bad a guy as you seem to think [Name].” She sat in the chair Sirius had vacated. “I don’t know, I know you two have _something_ going on, but I also know that you think he’s worse than he actually is. I’ve had a conversation with him and he seemed perfectly pleasant.” I just nodded, staring off into nothingness. “He’s been genuinely mad about you for at least a year, maybe it’s time you give him a chance?” 

“Mac, I-” 

“Just think about it. You don’t have to discuss it with me if you’re not ready.” I nodded, and she grabbed my arm, pulling me from my chair as she stood from hers. “Now come on, there’s still a party going on and I saw some Hufflepuffs sneaking in more dessert.” 

~~~

I didn’t know how to approach the topic. I hadn’t seen the boy since the party, which I excused as being because of the weekend, and yet I almost feared he wouldn’t talk to me again. Another part of me didn’t even know why I was worried. I’d tried to get him off my back for years, shouldn’t I be happy that he finally seemed to take the hint? Mackenzie hadn’t spoken a word about my predicament since she’d been clued in, and I was mulling over asking her for help when a familiar weight landed on my shoulders. 

“[Name],” Sirius’s greeting was more subdued than it had been before, and yet I felt the corner of my lips twitch up. “There’s one more Hogsmeade trip this year. Would you like to go with me?” 

I could hear Mackenzie intake a sharp breath, and I was certain the Marauders behind us were watching and listening closely. Looking around, I saw some people staring, but instead of looking at them, I looked at the boy in front of me. I wondered how I never noticed the slightly hopeful gleam in his eyes, or the way one of his hands went to tousle his hair. 

“Sure.”


	12. Fred Weasley || Prank Wars

**Request for[EJL](https://www.quotev.com/ejlocean06) on Quotev**

**Prompt: Prank war w/ Fred Weasley**

~~~

The magical world was greatly overpowered in many ways, however the one that concerned me the most at the moment was it’s infinite potential for pranking. A potential that the (evil) Weasley twins had harnessed with ease, as currently evidenced by my hair, which had seemingly gained a color changing ability. Even my eyebrows had seemed to gain the power. 

“Fred, George,” I smiled thinly at both of the brothers as I addressed them, trying to remain calm. 

George laughed, but upon seeing my glare merely pointed to his brother with his hands up. Fred however, looked betrayed by his brother throwing him under the bus. “ _Georgie, really? I thought we were…_ ” He smiled up at me after loudly whispering at his twin. “[Name], thanks for being such a good sport. We needed someone to test our new product!” 

“Weasley, what are you-” 

“Ah,” he tisked, “I wouldn’t get too mad if I was you, orange is a garish hair color on you.” 

“It truly is a shame,” George’s cheshire grin mirrored his twin, and it would probably be a bit scary had they not been so annoying. 

“No one seems to be able to pull it off as well as us.” 

“Even our dearest brother.” Fred ruffled an indignant Ron’s hair. 

“Oi, I look-” 

“We really do appreciate your willingness though.” He held up a bottle of clear serum with only a tape label with the words ‘hair color changer’ on it. I almost admired their ability to make it _more_ suspicious than necessary. “When we told everyone else we didn’t know when it would wear off they all ran away.” 

“You _what_?” 

“Look Freddie, it’s working!” Glancing at my hair in a mirror I found that George wasn’t messing with me (in that regard at least), as my [Hair Color] hair was slowly turning a bright orange, starting from the roots and ending at the tips. 

I took a deep breath, hoping that my hair was starting to go back to normal. “Whatever.” 

“If you experience any side effects,” one of the Weasley’s spoke, “please inform us. We wouldn’t want to harm any of our customers.” 

“Look Gred! It’s turning orange again.” I clenched my fists as I walked away, hoping that my emotions would calm enough to at least change my hair back to normal. There was no reason to get out of sorts anyways, I could just as easily get Fred back. 

~~~

“Fred,” I smiled at the redhead, who sat in front of me in potions. 

“[Name],” his grin back was just as fake, and he looked amusedly at my hair. “Don’t even think about it.” 

“Think about what?” 

“Don’t try to look innocent, I know you’re planning on doing something. You can’t fool the masters.” Snape walked in, silencing the class, but Fred whispered back to me anyways, “and you have a tell. Your hair is turning purple.” 

There wasn’t an option to get back at the redhead. The lesson had been theory based, so I couldn’t slip anything into their potion, and it seemed Fred knew that by the mocking grin on his face. Through the rest of the day it seemed his luck had remained intact, as the rest of our shared classes had also required no wandwork, and presented no more opportunities… Until Professor McGonagall assigned an essay. 

Switching out the twins’ parchment was fairly easy, and convincing their friends not to lend them any parchment had also been simple. What had been hard was the charm I put on the parchment. Although I had envisioned the end product, producing it had taken all night, but it was proven worthwhile, the result had been _glorious_. 

George didn’t need to be involved, but I knew he would lend Fred new parchment, so the spell on his parchment created a burning sensation whenever it was given to someone else. I only needed to remember to remove the spell when he handed the essay in. Fred’s parchment however, had been much better. All ink used on the parchment was sprayed back towards the writer, and I’d been certain to use an ink that wouldn’t come out with magic. Watching Fred being sprayed with ink was satisfying, as was his glare in my direction. I waved cheerily, but furrowed my eyebrows upon turning around. He’d always found a way to get back at me, and I needed to prepare. 

“[Name], don’t you think it’s time the both of you stopped?” Angelina wasn’t a strait-laced individual, but it seemed her worry outweighed her curiosity. “It’s been years, at some point you’re going to run out of ideas and somebody is going to get hurt.” 

I shook my head. I’d never say so aloud, but I trusted the twins… as much as anyone could. They played tricks, but even they knew where to draw the line. Angie was right, Fred and I had been “fighting” off and on since first year, but even in all that time, nobody had been physically harmed. 

“I can’t give up Angie, we only have a year left. I have to make it count.” 

~~~

After a month or so, it seemed Fred and I had reached an impasse. He had exhausted the list of joke items and concoctions he’d been developing, and I’d utilized most of the charms I could find by skimming through the books in the library. Professor Umbridge had lost her ability to punish us, and most of the involved student body seemed to have lost some interest. Although it was technically “my turn”, I hadn’t done anything, and he had yet to preemptively retaliate. On top of that, it seemed our teachers had been piling on more work, and I found myself almost relieved that I could spend my time studying. 

However, by the time winter had arrived, I had begun to brainstorm once again. What could I do? Infinite potential meant nothing when I had no idea how to utilize it. What hadn’t been done yet? 

“What’s got you so worried?” Fred sat beside me, and I sent him a halfhearted glare, which quickly turned to a tired smile. “You know, it’s your turn.” 

“I know.” I stared out the window, where it had begun to snow for the first time all year. “Do you remember when this all started?” 

“Of course,” he looked towards the windows as well, unknowingly leaning closer. “It was our first year.” 

~~~

_The grey sky had finally produced snow, and I was happy to be outside in it. Usually the first time it snowed, my family would spend time together, the children running and playing while the adults sat and watched. I missed them, but wondered if the first snow had fallen yet, and whether or not my siblings had enjoyed their time outside. Seeing friends pelting minimal snowballs made with the available precipitation made me feel better and yet more nostalgic._

_“What’s on your mind?” A familiar looking redhead leaned over the bench you were sitting on, and you tried to recall where you’d seen the face before. He was cute, but his expression reminded you of the troublesome looks your brother and cousins would usually get when they were planning something, and you tried to see if he was hiding any snowballs._

_“Not much, why?” Your voice was guarded, but you tried to keep your expression corial._

_“No reason, you just seemed so deep in thought. I think people with ‘not much’ on their mind would notice that their scarf was on fire.” You turned to look at your scarf, trying to remain calm as to not give him the satisfaction of having startled you. He wasn’t lying, it was on fire, and yet the flames weren’t quite hot enough to burn._

_“Aguamenti!” You glared at him before turning to head back indoors. You knew you would get even with him, you just needed some time to think of an idea._

_~~~_

“That was my favourite scarf.” 

“You got a new one.” 

“I had to explain to my mum why my first one had gotten destroyed. She had half a mind to take me out of school after I told her someone had ‘accidentally set it on fire’.” 

Fred laughed, and I noticed how close we’d gotten. If he wasn’t going to say anything about it, I wasn’t either. “Isn’t it a good thing that she didn’t? I mean, we have so many fond memories!” 

I wanted to argue, but my smile widened as I remembered most of our “battles”. We really had made the most of our time at the school. I knew so much of the castle from my time hiding from the redhead or setting up another trick against him, and while most of the magic I’d learned probably wasn’t going to help me in the future, it was certainly an extensive list of spells. 

“You know, it’s really a shame that this arrangement is going to end. I’ve enjoyed your company.” 

“ _Arrangement?_ ” He mocked offense. “Call it what it is [Name], a beautiful relationship.” I began to protest, but stopped when he continued talking. “And I don’t think it’s going to end.” 

“What does that mean?” 

“I’ve put up with you for years, do you think I’m just going to throw that away?” He took a piece of parchment out of his pocket and began to play with it. “Not to mention, I can recognize real potential when I see it. So can George.” 

“ _Potential?_ ” I mimicked his insulted voice. “I think I’ve shown more than just potential. This is pure _talent_. And what was this about George?” 

“Well, you’ve produced a fair number of good ideas yourself.” I realized the parchment must have been a piece I’d enchanted. “So we agreed on a proposition.” 

“A proposition?” I grinned at the choice of wording. 

“A business proposal.” 

“Oh, of course.” 

He ignored my second interruption. “It would be easier to get back at the toad if we all worked together.” 

“Certainly.” I didn’t have to hesitate to agree. 

“And after that, if we’re still able to stand each other…” He steeled himself to say something. “It would be beneficial for you to continue to assist us in designing our products.” 

I got the gist of what he was saying, and responded with fake deliberation. “Hmmm… I’ll think about it. So long as I’m not unknowingly tricked into ‘product testing’.” He snickered, and I rolled my eyes. “Don’t expect this to mean a permanent truce Mr. Weasley.” 

“Never Ms.[Last Name]. Only until we’re done with Umbridge.” We shook on it, but as I stood to leave he spoke up. “Oh, and [Name]? You know I only set fire to that scarf because I liked you, right?”

...

...

Wait _**what?**_

* * *

In accordance with my Quotev poll, I'll be adding titles to each of these One Shots. They probably won't be that creative, but hopefully they'll help if anyone is trying to navigate through them. Thank you to everyone who reads these, and I hope you can find at least a few that you enjoy. 


	13. Neville Longbottom || St. Mungo's

I’d never tell my brother Jayce, but coming to St. Mungo’s was slowly taking a toll on me. It wasn’t because he would lack understanding; it was because if I told him, he, in all of his Hufflepuff selflessness, would insist that I stop visiting him. And yet, as I walked down the hall I couldn’t help but remember the last time I’d been here. 

_ My father walked sternly beside my brother and I. I was about to enter my second year at Hogwarts, my brother was to enter his sixth. We’d been visiting our mother every other day, but soon summer was going to end, and Jayce and I would be off to Hogwarts, unable to see her for a few weeks. We reached the room, and in the middle of the bed sat my mother, who looked frail surrounded by pillows and blankets. She smiled weakly as we entered, and Jayce and I ran to her side.  _

I shook my head. It wasn’t the time to dwell on what had happened. I knocked softly on Jayce’s door. 

“Come in.” 

A nurse was standing beside his bed with a clipboard. “Miss [Name]?” I confirmed my identity. “Your brother should be able to go by next month if all goes well.” 

_ “Mr.[Last Name]?” A nurse was standing in the same position as the nurse in my brother’s room. My father nodded stiffly, pulling at his left sleeve’s cuff. “We have an idea as to what the curse on [Mother’s Name] may be. If we’re right we’ll be able to begin treatment in a week or so. If all goes well, she should be released by the time the children are on Christmas Holiday.”  _

“Miss [Name]?” The nurse was looking concernedly at me, and I had to remind myself that I wasn’t in the past. 

“Oh, sorry.” I smiled sheepishly, and the nurse looked back to her clipboard. 

“The curse didn’t last long enough to cause permanent mental damage, but we are keeping him here for observation. And will you be…” the nurse trailed off, looking at me. 

I shook my head, “I’ll still be here. I’m, uh, not returning to Hogwarts.” Most people were aware of the rule for last year’s seventh years. We had the choice to either return and redo our last year, or just continue and try to find jobs. I had elected to do the latter. 

“Then you’d be able to pick him up?” I nodded. The nurse wrote something down, satisfied with my answer. Jayce and I made silent eye contact as she left, but began talking when the door clicked shut behind her. 

“You aren’t going back?” He asked, his eyebrow quirked. 

“Kingsley’s offered me a job. He’s trying to restructure the ministry.” Jayce stared out the window longingly. I turned my focus to cheering him up, filing my issue to the back of my head. 

~~~

I looked out the window as I walked out of Jayce’s room, and suddenly I was elsewhere again. 

_ I stared out the window as the sun began to dip over the horizon. We’d been visiting my mother, Jayce and I prepared to say goodbye until we were able to arrange a trip home to visit from Hogwarts. However, as it had turned out, our farewells were entirely different. The attempts to remove the curse hadn’t worked. If anything, the curse had begun to spread faster. While we were there, my mother had died, and I had run. I took turns until I didn’t know where I was, and I found a bench beside a window, where I curled up, staring off into space silently.  _

_ “[Name]?”  _

“[Name]!” I was once again snapped out of my memories. A concerned Neville Longbottom stood in front of me. He was fiddling with a gum wrapper, and I found I’d made my way to a bench, same as I’d been all those years ago. He looked around awkwardly. “I heard about your brother. He saved lives. If he hadn’t stopped the column…” I knew what would have happened, Fred Weasley would be dead. His comment stood in the air for a while before I cleared my throat. 

“You did too, don’t think I forget all those first years you and Luna helped. And the speech you made.” I winced at my awful attempt at small talk, noticing he’d gone a bit pink. I tried to think of something else to say quickly. “Why are you here?” 

He looked at his gum wrapper, “I’m visiting my parents.” 

_ A younger Neville stood in front of me, a small gum wrapper in his hand. “Are you alright?” I squinted at him, of course I wasn’t alright.  _

_ “What are you doing here?” I hadn’t used my voice in so long, it was scratchy from crying.  _

_ “I’m visiting my parents. Gran’s talking to a few of the healers.” He held out the gum wrapper to me, and I took it without comment. “Do you want to get a drink?” I’d nodded, and we’d gone off to find some water.  _

“How’s your grandmother? I bet she’s proud of you.” I glanced at the wrapper, fairly certain I still had the one he’d given me before second year. 

“She’s home. I think she’s happy to no longer be on the run.” We both smiled at each other a bit awkwardly, until my gaze snapped to my watch and I stood hurriedly. 

“I’m really sorry, I have to go.” I ran towards the reception area, where I could disapparate to the Ministry’s atrium. 

~~~

“They captured Father.” Jayce looked only partially surprised, we’d thought he was dead since my fourth year, but the lack of a body always put us on edge. 

“Were you there?” I shook my head, I’d been made a temporary assistant to Harry, and until Jayce was home and self-sufficient I was kept strictly out of the field. I didn’t mind it, paperwork wasn’t particularly tedious to me. I was able to visit Jayce during my break, which was what I was doing currently. 

“His trial is in two days. He’s being tried for practice of dark arts, for murdering muggles, and for conspiring with Voldemort. We already know what will happen.” My brother nodded somewhat grimly, many things incriminated our father; the ugly mark on our father’s left arm nearly ensured his spot in Azkaban, as did his participation in the Battle of Hogwarts. 

“Are you alright with that?” 

I scoffed halfheartedly, “I have to be, don’t I.” 

“Not necessarily,” Jayce took my hand, and I remembered he was still hurt. 

“I’m fine with it, what about you?” 

“I’m,” he shrugged, “happy I suppose. Maybe a bit relieved.” He gently changed the subject, and I was content to let him. 

“[Name].” It was Neville, of course it was. He’d just gotten back from a mission, and I assumed he’d gone to see his parents before going back to work. 

“How was the mission?” 

“It went alright, although I’m sure you’ll hear all about it.” He and Harry were on the same team. “We captured more former Death Eaters.” 

I looked him over, noting the healing scratch on his arm. “Are you alright?” 

He dismissed it, “some tried to escape.” I never thought Neville would end up an auror. He didn’t seem the type to seek out trouble, and by the look on his face, he didn’t enjoy the violence. 

“Are you heading to the office?” He nodded, and I offered him my hand to apparate back. 

~~~

The day had come. My brother was overjoyed to find that he could finally leave, and he practically waltzed out of St. Mungo’s after I finished signing him out. We went to the Leaky Cauldron, and he nearly devoured his food. 

“The food at the hospital was terrible,” he explained with his mouth open. 

“Good thing you don’t have to go back then.” 

“Good thing  _ we _ don’t have to go back.” Jayce sent me a knowing look, and I shook my head. Of course he knew. “That is, unless you get hurt in your auror-ing.” 

“Wait, me? What about you?” 

“I’m not going back.” He gestured to the place he’d been cursed, a part of his shoulder. “Kingsley said if I were to go back he’d want it to be after a full year just to be certain. And I think I’ve had enough of the Ministry, even an improved one, for a lifetime.” 

“So what will you be doing?” 

He shrugged, “Charlie Weasley was telling me about some new dragon research nearby. Maybe I’ll ask McGonagall about openings at Hogwarts.” 

~~~

I found myself back at St. Mungo’s, for hopefully the last time. Jayce had forgotten some of his belongings, so I’d gone to get them for him. It wasn’t as bad as the other visits. Jayce and I hadn’t been present when our mother’s belongings were collected, so neither of us had bitter memories of that experience. 

I walked back towards the old room from long ago, steadying my breathing as I stopped. The door was closed, and I stared at the plaque. I’d passed it so many times, and I felt a weight lift as I looked at the door once again. I wouldn’t have to come back to the place that held so many unhappy memories. 

“Did you come to visit your brother?” As always, Neville stood nearby, and I remembered that his parents were in the room over. 

“Nah, he was released a few days ago.” I held up his belongings, “he’s just stupid sometimes.” 

Neville closed the door behind him as he exited the room. “Then would you like to get some coffee before the next trial?” I found myself taking him up on the offer, and we headed into muggle London, walking close together. 

“So do you plan on staying an auror?” 

He shook his head, looking somewhat bashful, “I kind of want to go back to Hogwarts. To teach.” 

“Oh, what subject?” Teaching seemed more fitting for him, and I wondered if he and Jayce would end up working together. 

“Herbology I think, if Professor Sprout ever wants to retire.” 

I remembered him being good at Herbology, even helping Sprout set up plants as traps during the war. 

“What about you?” 

“I don’t know, I might stay at the Ministry for a while. If I figure out something else I’d like to do I’ll leave, but I’m pretty happy for now.” I realized that to any outsider it would look like we were on a date, and I wouldn’t mind if that was a case. I’d probably still have to confront my issues; there was almost no way everyone I loved could stay out of harm’s way for the rest of my life. But the male had been there, even before we really knew each other, and I’d be happy if he continued to be there. 

* * *

Sorry if updates are a bit slower now, they probably will be from here on out. I've tried to make sure not to promote the idea that a person would 'fix' your issues, so please know that isn't a takeaway from this. 


	14. Albus Potter

**Requested by[Tasty_Toast](https://www.wattpad.com/user/Tasty_toast) on Wattpad. **

**Prompt: Albus Potter with Gryffindor reader**

I quietly zoned out as Rose continued to talk about Albus and Malfoy.

“I mean _honestly_ , how can’t he see that the boy is a bad influence on him. Just because he’s in a different house doesn’t mean he had to cut out his entire family. Malfoy’s obviously changing his opinion.”

I was rather skeptical. I understood Rose’s pain; I had grown up alongside the Potters and the Granger-Weasleys. I’d also been hurt at first when Albus had cut us off, becoming even quieter and more moody. Yet I tried to see it from his perspective. Scorpius didn’t seem to be a bad person, and I’d known since childhood that Albus had never enjoyed the attention that came with Mr. Potter’s legacy. Being sorted into Slytherin had gotten him more attention, and none of it had been positive.

_“He really is a screw up isn’t he?” Albus and Scorpius’ potion had boiled over the edge of their cauldron, both of them looking rather embarrassed. The girl behind me was stifling her laughter. “First being sorted into Slytherin then proving he’s worse than a squib? He’s probably such a disappointment.” I didn’t know if the pair could hear her words, but they were both staring intently at what they were doing, as if ignoring the people around them would make them disappear._

_I’d turned around, glaring at the girl over her cauldron. “Could you shut up?”_

_“Oh yeah, sorry.” Her voice had been heavily sarcastic, and when I turned back to my own potion I could hear her continue to snicker, this time at my expense._

_I went to turn around again, but Rose grabbed my wrist, sending me a sympathetic look and a small shake of her head. I knew she was also annoyed, but she’d always been fond of staying out of trouble._

“It’s been three years Rose, if he wants to be left alone then I think we should just leave him alone.” I poked at the food on my plate, losing my appetite. It had been terribly cliche, my crush on Albus, but he’d always been more my type out of all of his family. I still liked him, even after he’d stopped talking to the rest of us, and while a part of me had hoped it would quietly go away, I knew it likely wouldn’t.

It hurt though, that he wouldn’t even look at me anymore, and I’d wondered whether our friendship had really been so inconsequential to him. Maybe he’d been mad at me for getting into Gryffindor instead.

~~~

It was the end of our fourth year into the beginning of our fifth year that I’d started to see another change in Albus. I knew that something had happened in the middle of the year. He and Scorpius had been separated, and Mr. Potter had even come to the school. By the end of the year a boy had died, and while a memorial was held we’d been kept mostly in the dark as to the details of his death.

Yet the two of them looked happier; I’d even seen Albus having conversations with his father. Rose was nearly over the moon that her cousin was coming back to normal but I was just waiting for the right time to have a real conversation with Albus.

“[Name]?” I jumped, although whether it was because the younger Potter male had startled me or because I wasn’t prepared for us to talk so soon, I wasn’t sure.

“Albus,” I tried to keep my expression neutral. Although it had been over four years, I found that slipping back into a quiet conversation with the boy had been easier than I expected. We talked about random, inconsequential things, walking around the school. He began to meet my gaze again and smile at me, and it was all in due time that things returned to a familiar dynamic.

~~~

My head was resting on Albus’s lap, my eyes closed as he shakily brushed his fingers through my hair. I tried to ignore the wind rustling through the quidditch stands, lightly lifting my skirt and biting at my exposed skin.

“Are you alright?” My voice was quiet, and I wasn’t sure if Albus could hear me. I opened an eye, skimming his expression to search for a hint of acknowledgement. He was staring off at the empty quidditch pitch below us. Scorpius had recently finished practice, which Albus had promised to attend, yet the black haired boy had told his friend to continue in without him after the practice.

“Two people have died here. All because of my father and I.”

“W-what?” I almost sat up. “You mean Craig?”

“Yeah.” He sighed, sounding resigned. “I -well, I guess we because I dragged Scorpius into it- we met this girl, and she asked us to help bring back Cedric Diggory for her uncle. But we couldn’t, and she lied, and then she killed Craig. He wasn’t even involved, he’d just come to tell us-” Albus trailed off.

“What?” I was lost. “I’m kind of confused, but it really sounds like it’s her fault, not yours.” It wasn’t helpful. “And Cedric Diggory’s death wasn’t your father’s fault either. It was Voldemort’s.”

“I don’t know [Name]. It just-” His voice was shaking, and he pulled his hand away from my hair. When I sat up he was glaring at the quidditch pitch, but I could see at the corner of his eyes there were tears building up. I turned to face him, lightly wrapping my arms around his neck, loosely enough that he could pull away if he wanted to. But he didn’t, he rested his face into the crook of my neck, and I could feel his stuttering breaths and warm tears. His arms were wrapped around my waist, and I was made aware of how warm he was. I tightened my grip, hiding him from non-existent onlookers. We both sat quietly, me watching Albus as he lifted his face from my shoulder, continuing to stare blankly at the pitch. He rested his chin on my shoulder, and I quickly pecked his temple, not thinking about my actions.

The wind picked up around us but we didn’t make any move to leave. I’d ask in the future about the details of what had happened, and he’d tell me, pressed to my side on the Astronomy tower with his arm around me. Someday after that his siblings and cousins would conspire to get us to admit the meaning behind our affectionate behavior. I didn't know that at the time though, and I was perfectly happy to continue holding him.


	15. Regulus Black

**Request for[Lily Important PSA in tgl](https://www.quotev.com/OceanTart) on Quotev**

Narcissa coughed, a small, civilized cough, from her place beside Lucius Malfoy. “[Name], don’t you think it’s a bit, undignified of you to stare?” She had leaned forwards to speak to me, poised as always, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous of her grace. 

“I wasn’t staring.” My reply was mumbled, and as if to prove her point I habitually glanced once more at the table beside our own, where Regulus sat. My gaze quickly darted back to my plate. 

“Right.” She lowered her voice as she leaned even closer, “I’m sure Walburga’s been encouraging him to find a proper bride, especially after…” Sirius was still a taboo subject among the Black family, yet news had still spread quickly amongst the pureblood families. 

“I doubt it.” I looked around once more, taking in all the dresses and robes of different colors, the orchestra and the muttering of people seated at different tables. “We’re still too young.”

“Nonsense,” she waved her hand as if literally waving away the thought, and I saw her prominent diamond ring, “Lucius and I met in my second year.” I turned to the two of them. Narcissa was already two years out of Hogwarts, while Regulus and I were just entering into our third year. She looked back to her boyfriend, and as the two of them began a hushed conversation, I was left to poke at my dinner once more. 

As the dinner ended, people began to wander. Narcissa and Lucius stood up to dance, as Avery, Nott, and Parkinson left to chatter with classmates. 

“You look good.” I turned to the familiar voice, coming face to face with the boy I’d been stealing glances at earlier. 

“You too,” I gestured to Nott’s recently vacated seat, hoping my face wasn’t red. “Now, please remind me what exactly we’re celebrating?” 

“No clue,” Regulus shrugged, before a teasing smile made its way to his face. “Hey, don’t look now, but Amycus is looking at you.” I spared a glance behind myself, making eye contact with the boy in question. 

I turned back to the black haired boy in front of me, scrunching my nose as I leaned towards Regulus. “No thank you.” 

“I’ve been talking with him. He and Alecto plan to join the Death Eaters too, after they graduate.” 

“Oh.” 

“Have you thought it over at all?” His eyes turned hopeful, and I had to look away as I shrugged. “Come on, it won’t be the same without you.” He reached out to take my hand, and I was certain blood was rushing up my neck. 

“I don’t know Reg, I just don’t think I’m cut out for it.” We’d talked about joining the Death Eaters together as children, but in my years at Hogwarts I’d become uncertain that was what I wanted to do. “I’m not very good at Defense Against the Dark Arts.” 

I expected Regulus to argue, but he merely pushed his hair out of his face and stood up. Maybe he was done talking to me, mad that I didn’t plan to follow though. But he hadn’t let go of my hand. No, instead he pulled me up with him, and my heart pounded as he looked back at me with a handsome smile, squeezing my hand. 

“Reg?” I looked to the tables. My mother nodded in approval, no doubt pleased I was so close with someone from such a respectable family. 

“Come on, let’s dance.” My heart started pounding faster as he placed the hand not holding mine onto my lower back, but I acquiesced, trying to push down a stupid grin. 

“I didn’t think you were much of a dancer.” We twirled past other pairs, and I could feel Narcissa’s knowing look on the back of my neck. 

“I think I can spare a dance every once in a while, especially with you.” _Oh_. I wondered if some of Sirius’s mannerisms had gotten into him, not used to this. “I meant what I said,” we pulled closer to one another as his voice lowered ever so slightly, “you look really pretty.” 

“Thank you.” I was at a loss, not knowing what else I could say. 

He coughed, red tinting his pale skin as I could almost see him revert back to his normal self. “You know, even if you don’t join the Death Eaters, you’re going to be stuck with me for a long time.” 

“Of course,” I nodded good naturedly, before resting my head on his shoulder, “I would expect nothing less.” Regulus looked down at me, smiling fondly, and I hid my face to the best of my abilities in the crook of his neck. I let go of his hand, bringing mine up to rest around his neck, as his other hand made its way to my side. We swayed slowly, back and forth, warmly embracing one another. The music and chatter faded to the background, and I focused instead on the sound of Regulus’s even breathing, his steady heartbeat. 


	16. George Weasley

**Request for[StarlightInHerEyes](https://www.wattpad.com/user/StarlightInHerEyes) on Wattpad.**

It was nearly insulting that my last year at Hogwarts would be so bad. I had worked hard through all of my schooling; I became a prefect and then even Head Girl... All for everything to go down the drain as soon as Umbridge arrived. My education had nearly gone down the drain, what with her harassing all of my teachers, and Defense Against the Dark Arts had become so utterly useless despite its importance. Even my role as Head Girl was undermined by Umbridge, whose near constant snide remarks and disruptive actions interfered with my duties. The final straw was her group of Slytherin pricks who constantly worked to be unpleasant towards everyone else.

"What are you doing?" One of the Weasley twins whipped around to face me, eyeing the pin on my robes as he tried to hide something.

"Nothing." His attempt at nonchalance didn't fool me.

"Right." I raised an eyebrow, willing him to tell me what had really happened. Despite my years as a prefect, I hadn't really dealt much with the Weasley twins. They often got in trouble, and I'd heard of their infamous pranks, but I'd never really been the one to catch them in the act (usually it was their brother Percy that did). My gaze fell to his hand, where he was hiding something in his palm. "What's that?"

He stood still for a moment before hesitantly uncurling his fingers. The item looked to be an explosive, and I leaned forwards to get a better view. It was small and round, with a brightly colored exterior. There was no label, yet with the small fuse I was nearly confident in my identification.

"Would you like to see how it works?" The redhead grinned, pulling out his wand and pointing it at the object.

I shot back up, leaning away from the boy and pulling out my own wand as he laughed. "No thank you."

"Your loss, Fred and I have been developing it ourselves. It's nearly perfected."

"What does it do?" George glanced at a room along the corridor, before turning back with the same mischievous smile.

"I don't think I can tell you that, but I'm sure you'll find out soon enough."

Before I could process what he'd said, Umbridge came out of her classroom, the same room the twin had been looking at. "Don't you have something to do besides standing in the hallway like halfwits?" Her voice was condescending, as was her expression. She glared at George before sneering at me. "It seems Dumbledore will make anyone a prefect." I smiled at her tensely as she walked away, scowling once her back was turned.

Effectively embittered, I let George go. So long as he wasn't using his device to harm people or disrupt me, I was certain it would be fine. It wasn't quite past curfew yet, and besides, the twins would no doubt find another way to complete their goal, even had I impeded.

Apparently it was a good decision. Not two days later I heard a loud explosion from down the hall, and I ran towards the sound. Umbridge was leaving her classroom, angry and covered in sparkles and dye. One look into the room confirmed that the entire space had experienced the fallout. Down the hall I could see a flash of red slipping away, but before I could follow it, Umbridge had begun talking.

"You!" She pointed at me, "you did this didn't you?"

"No, I was with Professor McGonagall until just a few moments ago." The teacher in question arrived moments later.

"I believe you've spilt something on yourself." Her expression did not change, yet I could hear a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Me?" Umbridge screeched, "it was this this incompetent excuse for a..."

"It could not be [Name]." McGonagall cut her off, her voice cold. "She was reviewing with me for the past hour." Umbridge glared at me, and I did my best not to smirk at her in response. "Have you considered removing the glitter yet?"

"I have tried." The shorter woman's voice was strained with pauses between each word, and I bit my cheek to avoid laughing.

"I suppose it would be best to go see Filius. Maybe one more competent in charms could remove this. [Name], I'm sure you have other duties to attend to." I nodded, thankful for an out.

I speed-walked down the hall, not quick enough to be reprimanded, until I turned the corner. Out of sight of the teachers I sped up to a run, taking some shortcuts hoping to reach the entrance to the Gryffindor common room before the Weasley twins did. That was, until I ran face first into someone's back.

Shocked, I tried to step back, but was too unsteady to do so, the force of my bag moving backwards making me more unstable. The person turned around, grabbing me by the shoulders before I could fall backwards.

"So we meet again Ms. Ravenclaw." I looked up to see the person I'd been looking for.

"You," I took a deep breath, lungs still screaming from running across the school. "That was your invention thing wasn't it? The explosion in Umbridge's room."

"No clue what you're talking about." He was grinning proudly though, and he leaned back against the wall, still facing me. Despite his self-confident grin he looked rather attractive.

"Sure you don't." I shrugged with a fake sigh. "I was just going to tell whoever made it that it was rather brilliant."

"Yeah?"

"And her reaction was priceless."

"Uh huh." He started to look rather smug.

"But depending on the charm they used there was definitely something more effective."

"What do you mean?"

"I assume this person used a variant on the sticking charm that comes off after a few weeks, no? Well, that can be undone with enough effort." I pulled a notebook out of my bag, opening to a specific page and handing it to him. "Instead you'd want to use-"

"There you are Georgie, thought you'd gotten," Fred stopped talking when his gaze landed on me. "Caught."

"You can do whatever you'd like to mess with Umbridge. Just leave everybody else out of it." I took my leave, heading back to the Ravenclaw common room. It was only when I arrived back that I realized I'd forgotten to get my notebook back.

~~~

The next time I saw the Weasley twins was at a D.A. meeting three days later. I wasn't oblivious to their staring, although I tried to ignore them in favor of practicing the spells Harry was teaching.

After packing up I went to leave, only to be stopped by a notebook being forced into my face. I looked up, finding that for once, both Weasley twins were present.

"You forgot this."

"Thanks." I waited for whatever else they planned on saying.

"Those are some rather extensive notes."

"You read through the book." It wasn't a question.

"Skimmed." One of the Weasleys clarified.

"Some of it was review." I wasn't surprised, the book was littered with (mostly harmless) spells that I'd found or invented. Not all of them were entirely creative, and I was certain that such talented wizards had found their own workarounds.

"But other parts piqued our interest."

"Right."

"Now, what purpose would the Head Girl have for such spells?"

"I have siblings, both older and younger." I looked at the time, it was almost curfew. "Anything else?"

"You seem to share our vendetta against Hogwarts' newest... professor." The word was said with disgust.

"So George proposed we form a temporary alliance." Fred then, was the one on the left.

"An alliance?"

"You help us, and we get revenge against that _thing_ ruining our last year at Hogwarts." I tucked away my notebook, making my way towards the door.

"Why?"

"Well, if you join us we can become more efficient and lessen our chances of getting in trouble."

"And you can get the satisfaction of watching her get what she deserves for everything she's done to the school."

"I already told you I'll turn a blind eye." I opened the door, holding it out behind me for the Weasley twins to follow. "So long as you left everyone, including me, out of it."

Only George followed me, Fred leaving in the opposite direction.

"Now why would you grant us immunity Ms. Ravenclaw?"

"[Name], and it's not full immunity to everything, merely to your actions against Umbridge." I looked around, ensuring nobody else had heard. "I'm not so heartless as to turn someone in to her, I know what she does as punishment, and frankly, it's barbaric."

"Consider our offer then," George smiled at me, and I found my heart beating faster than normal, heat slowly rising to my face under his gaze.

~~~

"You're doing the wrong motions."

It took a week. Maybe my final answer had been obvious since the conversation in the Room of Requirement, or when my stomach had started doing subtle somersaults around the younger twin, however one comment thing had made me snap.

_"No wonder Hogwarts has been going downhill." Umbridge was in her office with the door open, and despite her being alone I could hear her talking. "It's standards have fallen so far, placing that girl in Ravenclaw and making her Head Girl. I'm sure Cornelius-"_

I had taken to helping the Weasley twins perfect my spells. "It's important to include the last flick, otherwise the spell can be undone."

The two were talented, quick to pick up on my instructions, and it was fun to learn from their wide repertoire of knowledge as well. I understood why they were so fond of their tricks and magical items. Watching as new and old magic mixed to become something entirely different was satisfying, and figuring out how to make something work was like a puzzle. Maybe my final year at school wasn't going that badly. There were however, some downsides.

"George!" I glared at the boy from across the hall, watching as a first year cowered beside him. He had blood dripping from his nose, and I watched as the redhead quickly gave the kid something else. The nosebleed promptly stopped, and by the time I'd reached the two of them the blood was cleaned from his face.

"[Name]." An easygoing smile overtook his face as I approached.

"Are you okay?" I looked to the kid first, who nodded quickly before speed walking away.

"I think you scared him."

"I told you not to test on kids!" There was some blood by the toe of my shoe, which I looked at pointedly. "What if he'd gotten hurt?"

"He agreed to be a part of our testing!" He quickly muttered a cleaning charm and the drops of blood were gone. "And we test our products before giving them to other people."

A noise of distaste came from the back of my throat. I hadn't considered how the Weasley twins ran testing for their products before becoming their friend, and it had been terrifying to find that they'd been testing on _themselves_ , although it was certainly better than roping in naive first years. "How reassuring."

"It should be. There was a very low chance he would get hurt."

"You still shouldn't do that!"

"It's not like you could do anything about it." He'd muttered that under his breath, but I'd still gotten the gist of his statement. I pointed at the pin on my robe. The twins had already gotten detention for just that reason. "Yeah about that," he fidgeted uncomfortably, and I realized I'd never seen him look nervous before, "we're uh-" he wouldn't look me in the eye, "we're leaving." 

"Leaving?"

"Fred and I. We bought a store in Diagon Alley, and we uh, plan to leave before finals." He looked at me guiltily, and I wondered what my expression must look like. "That's why we've been testing on more people recently."

"Before finals?" It was already March, I'd already started reviewing.

"We were never going to do well on our finals, and if we already had a business there was no point in sticking around. We were banned from quidditch, the DA was disbanded..." A bitter smile made its way to my face. No point. He was right, so why was I hurt? "[Name], I'm-"

"It's fine," I'm sure my voice was too strained, too cheery. "Really." I looked around, trying to search for an excuse to leave before I found the Head Boy. "I have to go," I gestured to him, "boring Head Girl stuff and all that. I'll talk to you later." I made a beeline towards him, refusing to look back at George, even as he said a confused 'okay'. 

**Is there going to be a sequel part? Who knows?**

**Once again, it has been about six months, I'm so sorry it took so long to get your request out.**


	17. Draco Malfoy

**Request for[Foxy and I be breakin'downTHAT DAMN door](https://www.quotev.com/SightOfTheDead2021) on Quotev**

I could feel Draco’s glare at the back of my head, but ignored it in favor of setting up the last pole of the tent. 

“This would be easier if you helped me.” 

He sighed, averting his gaze to the tent. “I don’t see how this is necessary. Rolling around in the dirt like muggles.” 

I pointed to the big sleeping bag, “we aren’t rolling around in the dirt. We’re in a tent, _and_ a sleeping bag. That’s at least two layers.” He muttered something under his breath, but I ignored it. “Wizards have tents too.” 

“Those are nothing like this.” 

“Yeah, they take away the fun of it.” I stepped back from my work, finally looking to Draco. “Come on, don’t pout.” I gestured towards the house, not five yards from where we stood. “If you absolutely hate it we can go back inside. That’s the beauty of backyard camping.” For once he didn’t complain. 

“What are we supposed to do?” 

“Well, we’ve set up a tent. Now we need to start a fire.” The blonde took out his wand, and I glared at him, batting the small object out of his hand. “Not magically.” I pointed to the stack of wood and kindling. 

Draco was surprisingly compliant, helping me set up the wood inside the fire pit. I finally let him take his wand to cast a quick _incendio_. The fire lit up the slowly darkening sky. 

“Now what?” 

“Now we make food.” He grimaced at the hotdogs I pulled out of a box near the fire, and I rolled my eyes at how dramatic he was being. “Look, they’re a camping classic. But if you hate it so much,” I looked back into the box, “we can make nachos or potatoes or something.” 

“Or something?” 

“Yeah, I kind of overpacked.” I handed him a long skewer, and a hotdog, urging him to put the edible cylinder on the stick. I fixed my own before dragging him back towards the fire and sitting down. “Now you hold it over the fire, but just far enough away so it doesn’t burn.” 

“Why would you pack at all? We’re right next to the house.” 

“It’s so we don’t have to go inside. That’s the point.” I turned back to the box, reaching inside until I found the bottle I was looking for. “If it makes you feel any better, I brought some firewhiskey.” 

“Only marginally.” I took a sip before handing the bottle over to him, watching as he mimicked my actions. I could feel the burning sensation travel down my throat. The drink sloshed around in it’s container as Draco set it down by his side. 

“So what do you plan on doing now?” 

“I dunno.” Draco was staring into the fire, deep in thought. The war had ended, and I was certain his world had turned upside down in that time. 

“Well that’s fine.” I rested my head on his shoulder, turning to look at the flames that slowly engulfed the wood. “I’m sure you have time.” 

“What do you want to do?” 

“No clue.” The magical world still intrigued me, but nothing in particular had ever stood out. I had no specific talent, nor any focused interests that would give me any idea of what to do. 

“We’ll figure it out.” I lifted my head to look at him, and he sent me a tight smile. “What’s next?” 

“Dessert.” I got marshmallows, cookies, and chocolate, handing Draco a marshmallow as I took my own, attaching it to the end of my skewer. “You hold it over the fire until it’s warm and toasted, then you put it on the cookie with a square of chocolate.” He gave me a doubtful look. “It’s kind of messy, but they taste good.” 

“Muggles certainly are-” 

“Geniuses?” 

“Odd.” He looked at his marshmallow as it slowly turned golden. 

“Just try it.” He did as instructed, pushing his marshmallow onto the chocolate as I prepared my own. 

“It’s not bad.” 

“It’s a staple of backyard camping.” 

“Why didn’t you ever do this back at Hogwarts?” 

“I sort of did, actually. The astronomy tower was usually free. All it took was some magical fire. The school’s really beautiful and all, but it really isn’t the same.” 

“Well, what now?” 

“If my dad and sister were here we’d probably sing campfire songs or something, but I’m sure I can live without them.” Draco looked relieved, and I let out a short laugh at his expression. “One of the best things about the astronomy tower though, was that it was a good place to see the stars.” The sun had gone down entirely, and the stars were clearly visible, splashed across the sky. “The best way to see the stars is by extinguishing the fire.” I yawned, soothed by the sound of crickets and the crackling fire. “I don’t think I mind if we put it out with magic though.” 

Draco casted an extinguishing spell over the fire, which quickly went out. Only the burned wood and ashes remained. I laid down on my back, Draco doing the same right by my side. Our arms were touching, and he moved his hand to intertwine with mine. 

My parents had loved talking about the stars when we sat outside. I pointed out the constellations they’d mentioned, so ingrained in my mind from hearing about them as a child. 

“You don’t want to go into astronomy?” Draco had turned his head to look at me as I lapsed into silence. 

“Not really, I took the class. Just wasn’t interested enough to pursue it.” 

“I think you’d be good at it.” I squeezed his hand, and conversation diminished once more. 

I shook my head as I noticed myself starting to doze off, standing up and pulling Draco with me. I opened the front of the tent before laying down in one side of the sleeping bag. The blonde shuffled awkwardly into the other side, and we both laid staring at the roof of the tent. 

I was starting to fall asleep by the time Draco said something. “Y’know, this wasn’t so bad.” His voice took on a resigned tone, “I wouldn’t mind doing it again.”


	18. Fred Weasley

**Request for[ellen](https://www.quotev.com/scaredofyou) on Quotev**

I assumed, when Fred Weasley first asked me out, that it was as a joke. It wouldn’t have surprised me, and frankly I believed I was entirely validated. We’d never talked before, and all I could recall about him off the top of my head was that he had a twin (who I’d also never talked to) and that he had a penchant for jokes and pranks. I looked around for anyone else who might be spectating for a reaction, but could find nobody looking in our direction. Even his twin was nowhere to be found. That did little to comfort me. For all I knew, George was planning on jumping out of a bush laughing as soon as I gave Fred the time of day. 

“Why?” My voice sounded heavily skeptical, but he’d just continued to smile, leaning against the tree that I’d been laying under before he approached me. 

“I think you’re cute.” Now I _knew_ he was joking. I looked him over, from his bright red hair to his slightly scuffed shoes. I looked at his face, trying to figure out whether his smile was malicious. _He was kinda cute_. “So?” I glanced around one more time, finding that nobody around was paying us any attention. 

“Okay.” His smile widened, and he turned around, ambling away rather slowly. I looked behind myself once more, finding again that nobody else had seemed to react to the exchange. 

I didn’t think he’d ever follow up, assuming that he was done with whatever bet or trick he’d been conducting, but he approached me later that day in Charms. 

“You can’t sit there, Angelina’s-” 

“She’s over there.” He pointed to the spot beside George, where Angie was indeed sitting. “So I’m sitting here for the day.” He smiled at me for the second time that day, a playful little grin that came with a mischievous glint in his eyes. 

Perhaps I should have expected that he wouldn’t leave me alone afterwards, because he didn’t. For a week or two he would seek me out during the day, and while I was always cautious of any tricks or pranks, yet the ones pulled on me were rather tame. Our date did take place, the next trip to Hogsmeade had been spent with the lanky redhead close by my side. 

As more time passed, I still wondered whether or not it was building up to some large joke. I was trying not to get my hopes up, but it wasn’t worth lying to myself. I enjoyed the feeling of his arm around me and the smirk he’d send my way before one of his and George’s pranks took effect. I enjoyed sitting with him and George in the corner of the common room, watching as they planned out their next big prank, occasionally inputting my own opinion. 

Even when we were holding different conversations at breakfast, he’d sneak food from my plate, laughing when I’d glare at him, and quickly pecking my forehead before returning to the conversation he’d been having. At parties in the Common Room he’d find me, sending a quick wink before running off to find his brother, Lee, or the quidditch team… only to later startle me by quietly approaching from the side. 

Christmas arrived quickly, and before long the grounds were covered in fluffy snow. Every year I stayed at Hogwarts, and I was surprised to find that the twins were doing the same. The castle became quieter as students left to go home, and I’d somehow convinced myself that I could experience another calm holiday. This plan, of course, was spoiled after not even two days. 

I was just finished tying a letter home to my owl’s leg when Fred burst in. My owl took off at his arrival, and I turned around quickly to see who it was. 

“There you are, I was looking everywhere for you.” He reached out his hand. “Let’s go to Hogsmeade.” 

“Hogsmeade?” I looked at him skeptically. “There isn’t a trip today.” 

“There doesn’t have to be.” I took his hand with a shrug, and found myself less than a half an hour later in the basement of Honeydukes, bundled up in winter clothing. 

We spent the day walking around the village, down twisting, narrow roads and the busy main street. People were bustling in and out of shops, hurrying to get shopping done. Storefronts and trees were decorated with lights and ornaments. We took a quick detour to Zonko’s before returning to Honeydukes, taking the passage back to the school. 

The next day was spent on Hogwarts grounds, watching as Fred and George pelted students with snowballs from different trees. It took a very short amount of time and a single projectile sent towards Ginny for a battle to break out with snowballs as ammunition. The siblings each dodged behind trees as they threw snowballs and charmed them to hit one another. It wasn’t long before I was dragged in, as were Hermione and Harry, and I was certain at one point I could even see Percy wave his wand at a pile of snow, quickly smacking each of his relatives in the head without them seeing the source. 

We only went inside when dinner time had approached, and in the warmth of the Great Hall I found my hair and shoes rather soaked, although I couldn’t complain. I also had not realized how hungry I was, and after eating a full meal I trudged back to the common room lazily, lying down in front of the fire. 

With such a busy break I had nearly forgotten Christmas morning. I had woken up at the crack of dawn, and unable to fall back asleep I stood up with a stretch, nearly tripping over a box at the foot of my bed. I was about to get I quickly opened my gifts, surprised to find a box of homemade candy from Molly Weasley. Making my way down to the common room I noticed the emptiness of the area. I sat on a couch, getting comfortable with a blanket as I wrote another letter home. 

People slowly woke up, some heading down to breakfast while others also stayed around the common room. Ginny was the only member of the Weasley family that I saw in the morning. I brought up my surprise at her mother’s gift, however she merely scoffed. 

“Of course she did. He talked about you in letters home.” 

“Really?” 

She nodded, laughing a bit behind her hand. “Mum thought he was messing with her so she asked the rest of us about you. She might still be in doubt.” I looked at the ground, trying to hide my growing smile. If Ginny noticed she said nothing, instead excusing herself before leaving the common room. 

By nine I decided to go get breakfast, taking the rest of the morning to walk aimlessly through the school corridors. It had become a yearly tradition almost, wandering until dinner. The sound of caroling armor and ghosts stopped me from feeling lonely or hearing my own echoing footsteps. I passed portraits, greeting them on my way and allowing myself to get lost in the school. It was only when the sun started to set that I headed back towards the Great Hall. 

“There you are,” I sat beside Fred, who looked concerned, “I haven’t seen you all day.” 

“I’m fine.” I rested my head on his shoulder as we waited for the feast to begin. 

The Hogwarts feast was always delicious, although maybe it looked more appetizing because I’d been walking around all day building up an appetite. The sounds of cutlery scraping on plates along with the quiet hum of conversation were all that could be heard for most of the meal. By the end of dessert I was stuffed and occasionally startled by the sound of Christmas crackers going off between students. 

By the time we made our way back to the common room I felt nearly ready to fall asleep, and I was happy to sit down, sinking into Fred’s side as conversation continued between the siblings and their friends. I laughed at their embarrassing family stories, and listened as Hermione described the holidays with muggle parents. I was too lazy to move, even as everybody else made their way upstairs. Fred was still beside me, and I burrowed my face into his shoulder. As the noises of the common room diminished to the crackling sound of the fire and the wind blowing outside, he spoke up hesitantly. 

“[Name]?” 

“Yeah?” My voice was muffled, but I made no motions to adjust my position. 

“I love you.” 

I hummed, an idiotic smile making its way across my face. “I love you too.” I looked up at my boyfriend only to find him already looking at me with a soft smile. 

* * *

And thus ends my updating spree. With a holiday themed one.... Before December has even begun.... 

I've finally finished all of the requests from before they were closed. I'll take into consideration the character requests everyone else has left, but to be entirely honest these were the final requests I agreed to, if I write for the rest of them it will be because I was genuinely inspired to do so. This book will probably go back to being updated sporadically, but I don't plan to abandon it altogether. 

To all of the people who requested, thank you so much for your interest and your patience. To everyone else thank you for reading! 


	19. Sirius Black

It’s too warm outside. Although the weather is already starting to cool, it’s not cold enough. 

“[Name].” Remus. Remus is with me, and I think that might be enough. Well, I suppose it has to be now. “[Name]!” I jump as a warm hand rests on my shoulder, even though I know who it is. “We need to go.” 

I’m happy he didn’t say  _ home _ . As of late, my home has been destroyed, and Remus would understand that more than anyone else. I don’t understand though. The end of the war, the death of Voldemort was supposed to end all the sacrifice, the pain and the casualties. Yet somehow, in the span of about a night, most everyone I love was killed or carted off, never to be seen again by what’s left of the Order. My face stays blank, despite the thought, and Remus removes his hand from my shoulder, instead extending it for me to take. 

“I heard Augusta’s taking care of her grandson.” My voice is monotone. “Sirius is being sent to Azkaban in a few days. There isn’t even a trial.” 

“I don’t know, [Name]. Do you really think a trial would have changed anything? He was their Secret-Keeper, he’s the only one it could have been.” 

I finally accept Remus’s hand as he apparates, and we land in front of his house. I stare at the door as he goes to unlock it, taking down the warding spells. 

“It’s just- we’ve been living together for years. I had hoped he’d be able to trust me with anything, or that at the very least I’d be able to notice something was wrong.” 

“He was distancing himself from everybody. It’s not your fault you didn’t notice.” 

“I should really go get some sleep.” I check the clock, which reads just after eleven. “I wanted to see Sirius one last time before…” Remus doesn’t even try to argue with me, although I’m sure the look he shoots me is a worried one. 

“Okay, just don’t,” He pauses, and I hear the ticking of the clock, the chirping of crickets outside. “This isn’t your fault, really. He wasn’t who we thought he was.” 

“I know Remus.” I turn to leave before turning my head back to look at one of the only friends I have left, “have a good night.” I take a good look at Remus before disappearing. He looks tired, and his skin is sickly pale even though the full moon is nowhere near. I doubt I look much better. 

I wanted to argue. Sirius had unnecessarily distanced himself from Remus. He’d become more paranoid than he should have been, but he didn’t distance himself from  _ me _ . He wouldn’t have. Sirius had been my roommate for years, and my friend since we were children. He’d been there through my crush on James. I’d been there for every argument with his parents. After we both left Hogwarts and our respective families  _ he’d _ become my family. He always had been. 

I dismantle all of the wards around the flat, considering not putting them up again. A letter from Lily still sits on the mantle, as does the picture of she and James at their wedding. I’d always felt a twinge in my chest whenever I’d see the picture. They were always happily waving, and the more childish part of me had wondered whether or not I could have had the happy ending immortalized in the photo. I admonish myself for ever having felt that way. 

As I make my way to my room I avoid looking into the kitchen, or the living room, or Sirius’s room. I can’t help but look at the picture I know is on the wall between our rooms. A younger version of each of the Marauders look back at me with happy grins. Lily stands next to James, who hugs her close, and I stand on James’s other side, next to Sirius. To Sirius’s left is Peter, and beside him, Remus. Everyone is looking at the camera with their signature smiles: Lily’s and Remus’s kind as always, Peter’s a bit anxious, James and Sirius both grinning mischievously as they try to mess with each other, and mine a bit annoyed as Sirius accidentally hits me on the head. I turn away sharply before I can start to cry, making my way to the bathroom as I feel bile rise in the back of my throat. 

~~~

I probably shouldn’t have visited Sirius. He looks veritably mad, and as he approaches the door of his cell I feel a deep frown shakily make its way to my face. My lips are twitching in an attempt to keep me from bursting out. 

“Sirius.” 

“You have to believe me [Name]. I wouldn’t do this. I didn’t.” Sirius grabs onto the bars of his cell, his manic expression foreign to me. 

“Who else would it be? They trusted  _ you _ the most.” I hope my voice hurts as much as his stabbing all of us in the back. 

“It was that sniveling rat. Pettigrew. He orchestrated the whole thing. Last minute we-” 

“No!” I glare, raising my voice sharply. “Do  _ not _ blame Peter. Don’t you dare.” 

“[Name],  _ listen _ , please. The time I left without warning about a month back. We switched. I recommended they switch to Peter as their Secret-Keeper. Please, [Name], I wouldn’t lie to you. You know me better than anybody else. Look at me, you know I’m not lying.” 

He doesn’t look like he’s lying, but he’s proven he’s apparently a better actor than I’d thought before. “Sirius, it wasn’t only Lily, Peter, and James. There were muggles. Twelve of them. They had  _ families _ . They didn’t know about the magical world, they weren’t involved in any of this. They didn’t agree to sacrifices like we did. I thought you understood that.” 

“I  _ do _ . It was Peter!” 

“Dumbledore’s sending Harry to live with Petunia.” I stare at the wall behind Sirius. “I offered to raise him, but  _ apparently _ I wasn’t fit. He’s not going to have a good childhood. You remember how Petunia treated Lily.” 

The man behind bars doesn’t say anything, and I refuse to look at him or his expression. 

“I have to go.” Someone’s coming down the hall, the same person who brought me to see Sirius in the first place. 

“[Name], please believe me. It wasn’t me.” His voice is quieter, less argumentative than before. I look back at him one last time, and his sincere gaze reminds me of so many days before he apparently decided we weren’t worth much. The same look he gave me before battles, whenever our lives were in danger. When we would get news of another friend dead. This is it, isn’t it? The last I’ll see of him. 

One last once over before I turn around, yet even as I make my way out of the Ministry building and back to the flat, as I start making myself food for the first time in a few days, I can’t get his face out of my head. 


End file.
